This Underrated Juice Gives Your Bloody Mary The Most Dramatic Color

For many, the bloody Mary is the perfect brunch drink, right up there with the classic mimosa. This cocktail is the perfect blend of savory (thanks to the tomato juice) and spicy (thanks to the addition of Tabasco). Another benefit to the bloody Mary? Its aesthetically pleasing, bright red coloring. If the pretty hue of the drink has always been a draw for you, then you need to know about the underrated juice that, when added to a bloody Mary, gives it an even more vibrant, pleasant coloring. With beet juice, the drink is transformed into a magenta-like pink with red undertones. Essentially, if you're hosting a brunch and want to impress your guests with a unique drink, serve them this version of a bloody Mary.

This addition serves more than just an aesthetic purpose — it tastes delicious as well. Beet juice is known for its earthy flavor, which can be a bit too intense and bitter for many people when consumed on its own. However, when it's added to the bloody Mary, the beet juice infuses that earthiness into the savory-spicy drink, giving it more depth of flavor without overpowering the flavors of the classic drink we know and love. It's also a way to get some extra health benefits without having to drink beet juice itself, which is certainly an acquired taste.

Firstly, you need a trusted bloody Mary recipe to start with. Then, add about ¼ cup of beet juice to start. You can either add that alongside the recipe as is (this will yield a slightly larger drink), or you can take out ¼ cup of tomato juice and replace it with the beet juice. What's great about this version of the drink is that it's quite customizable. For example, if a ¼ cup of beet juice seems like too much for you — if, say, you don't want too much of the earthy flavor in the drink, but want the color — then add a bit less. Start with a few tablespoons and see how that affects the coloring of the drink. 

If you want to play down the beet juice flavors, it's probably a good idea to keep the original quantity of tomato juice to ensure that the classic flavor of the drink shines through. On the other hand, maybe you want even more beet juice. To really highlight the earthy flavor, you can try swapping the amounts of each juice: Use ¼ cup of tomato juice and ¾ cup of beet juice. You could even technically make a version of a bloody Mary that has only beet juice. This will transform the taste of the drink entirely, but the bright pink color will be on full display.

Adding beet juice to a bloody Mary is the most straightforward way to create a unique version of the drink, but it's not the only way. For example, some people prefer their bloody Marys to be extra spicy — and the beet juice version can be, too. The spicy version is going to be quite similar to the original recipe — a typical recipe already includes Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce — but includes a sliced jalapeño.

To take your beet juice bloody Mary to the next level of spice, you can always add more than the teaspoon of hot sauce that the recipe calls for — just keep in mind that you may need to add a little extra beet juice to maintain the vibrant pink color that we're going for. Or, you can mix in more than one jalapeño slice into the drink. Finally, put a layer of Tajin on the rim, margarita-style, for an additional mild spice.