How to make the perfect Bloody Mary

With unclear origins, alternative ingredients and an aggressive label, the Bloody Mary is an interesting proposal as well as a classic ‘hair of the dog’ libation. A heavy vegetable base is intended to settle your stomach after a long night of drinking, with salt to replenish lost electrolytes and a couple of sauces with kicks – Worcestershire and Tabasco – also being thrown in to really combat your pains.

But with such an eclectic array of ingredients, the construction of this cocktail is a delicate operation. Crush your ice and you risk diluting the tomato juice. Add too much Tabasco and you’ll overpower the entire thing. Over-garnish and you’ll end up having to hack your way through the foliage before the first sip. Here’s how to do it right…

• Ice
• 250ml tomato juice
• 50ml vodka
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Worcestershire sauce
• Tabasco
• Black pepper
• Sea salt
• 1 celery stick

• Jigger (spirit measure)
• Collins glass
• Shaker
• Long bar spoon

1. Fill a Collins glass with several large ice cubes and set to one side
2. Take a shaker and mix the tomato juice with vodka. Use a crisp, clean vodka – you’ll be adding enough grit and spice later
3. Add the lemon juice, four dashes of Worcestershire sauce and four dashes of Tabasco. Mix with a long bar spoon for around 20 seconds, and then add a pinch of black pepper and a large pinch of sea salt
4. Stir vigorously for a further 20 seconds, and then strain into the Collins glass
5. Top up with ice until full, and garnish with a celery stick – also to be used as a stirrer

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