As I am their resident bartender, my parents one night confessed to me their love for a drink they often procure at a bar in Venice Beach. The house specialty, so they say, can be enjoyed at any time of day or night, in any weather, under any circumstances. My parents have always jumped at the opportunity to audition the bloody mary whenever it is recommended and are fairly regular consumers, but this drink is something truly special. It is a cornucopia of spice and tang, unequalled in their memory of sensory perceptions. And now they wanted me to try and duplicate it without ever having done so much as seen it.
I went online and searched for recipes. The classic bloody mary consists of the following:
1 jigger vodka
3 oz. tomato juice
1 lemon, juiced
3 drops Tobasco sauce
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
1 celery stalk for garnish
I asked my parents what they thought made their favorite drink so unique. Apparently this bar they frequent does not mix the drink entirely from scratch, as the classic recipes indicate should be done. Instead, they use a store-bought bloody mary mixer, to which they add spices, including horseradish, to kick it up several notches. And along with the celery, it is presented with two skewered olives. I went to the supermarket to pick up the necessary ingredients and began to experiment.
My first attempt produced a drink whose spice was conservatively restrained. I had purchased Mr. and Mrs. T’s Bold & Spicy bloody mary mix, and so I figured liberal application of horseradish and the like would be unnecessary. My father had a taste and after some hesitation proclaimed, “Not quite. It’s missing something – a certain je ne sais quoi, a certain tang. And I can taste too much alcohol.” My mother liked it, though, but I didn’t want to stop at that. I wanted not to produce a runner up, a faded facsimile of the drink they had found, but a bloody mary superior even to that which they had immediately favored after years of sampling in the finest establishments.
For my second attempt my application of spices was beyond liberal, almost insane. I started with one shot of vodka, three shots of mixer, and from there began to really lay it on. I transferred it to the shaker with ice, gave it a quick shake, strained it into the same glass half-filled with ice, inserted the celery and carefully laid the twain olives next to the stalk. My father took a sip and instantly exclaimed, “That’s it!” My mother tried it and began to fan her mouth. I made another and soon both glasses were empty. I was praised, and once again the humble pie on the sill was forgotten.
Two days later my parents returned home from Marina del Rey, where their yacht resides. They had again visited Venice Beach, again visited that same bar and ordered their bloody marys. It seems the taste of victory is not so sweet in another’s mouth, for the experience there and then lost its magic. My parents informed me that my bloody mary is indeed the finest.
My version consists of the following:
1 jigger Stolichnaya vodka
3 jiggers Mr. and Mrs. T Bold & Spicy bloody mary mix
3/4 large lemon, juiced
Lots of Tobasco sauce
Lots of Worcestershire sauce
Lots of salt & pepper, especially the latter
2 stirring spoons horseradish
1 stalk celery for garnish
2 onion-stuffed olives for garnish
Mix ingredients in an old fashioned glass and transfer to a shaker filled with ice. Shake briefly and strain back into the glass, half-filled with ice. Insert celery and lay olives on top.
