A Very Good Bloody Mary

Author Notes

The classic, really good. —Ali Slagle

Test Kitchen Notes

Who wouldn't want a really good Bloody Mary to get your day started? You'll love this next-level version that we like to definitively call the best Bloody Mary ever. This recipe features tomato juice, fresh lemon juice, dill pickle juice, as well as a bite from horseradish and hot sauce, and, of course, a bit of vodka. The optional garnishes are a lot of fun but entirely up to you. From dill pickles to pickled okra, cornichon, celery, lemon, parsley, radish, bacon, and/or a hard-boiled egg, the choice is yours, but whatever you end up deciding on, you'll have a fun drink to enjoy at the end of the adventure.

Kenzi Wilbur, who wrote about the secret ingredient for this recipe, asks a good question: "But what if we actually puréed dill pickles and stirred them into the mix? I overheard this madness at the SuckerPunch booth at the recent Good Food Mercantile in Chicago—and I asked for clarification. 'Adding only pickle brine can make the whole drink taste a little sharp,' they explained, and this way nothing gets any more watered down than it needs to. Your Bloody Mary gets to keep its texture, and in turn, also its status as a meal in a glass.

"To do it at home, purée a few spears (or many—the mixture has enough vinegar to keep in the fridge for at least a few days), and stir that into your bloody to taste, in place of the pickle brine. That’s it. It was so simple, wasn’t it?" —The Editors