The Bloody Mary is a vodka-based cocktail containing tomato juice, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and Worcestershire sauce. It originated in the 1920s at Harry's New Bar in Paris when bartender Fernand Petiot experimented with vodka and tomato juice. Over time, bartenders have adapted the recipe with varying garnishes and ingredients. Modern versions feature creative garnishes like sliders and wings. While traditionally considered a hangover cure, the Bloody Mary's versatility means it can be enjoyed at any time of day.

1. Insider T H I R S T Q U E N C H E R
W O R D S a i b r • P H O T O S I M O N S H I F F Jetstar.com 15
Hail Mary
An old cocktail has been modernised by smart, young bartenders
IF YOU’VE EVER H A D A BIG NIGHT O U T,
chances are you’ve followed it up
with a Bloody Mary.
Thought to possess restorative
powers, the vodka-soaked tomato-
based brunch cocktail is the perfect
balance of sweet and savoury, with a
little salt thrown in for good measure.
Recipes vary greatly, as does the
garnish, but in its most familiar
form, a Bloody Mary is comprised of
vodka, tomato juice, lemon juice, salt,
pepper, and Worcestershire sauce.
The Bloody Mary has a boozy
cure-all reputation. Tomato juice is
thought to settle the stomach while
offering a much-needed nutritional
hit of vitamins and minerals, salt
restores lost electrolytes, and vodka,
the ‘hair of the dog’ alcohol injection,
is said to relieve head and body aches
brought on by a night of
over-indulgence.
Parisian bartender Fernand
Petiot is believed to have created
the first tomato cocktail while at
Harry’s New York Bar, in Paris. After
experimenting with vodka in the
early 1920s, he settled on a mix
of half vodka and half canned tomato
juice. An American customer then
came up with its temporary name,
Bucket of Blood, after a club in
Chicago.
A decade or so later, after
prohibition had come to an end,
Fernand was poached by New York’s
Hotel St Regis, which, deciding
the original name was too vulgar,
reinvented the cocktail as the Red
Snapper. Fernand is believed to have
then added Worcestershire sauce
and black and cayenne pepper as an
improvement on the original recipe.
The story, though plausible,
is highly contested, as tomato
juice is thought not to have been
commercially available until the late
1920s – though in Fernand’s defence
it fits in with the Red Snapper
timeline.
Another contender for the first
Bloody Mary is bartender Henry
Zbikiewicz, who is thought to have
paired vodka and tomato juice in
the 1930s at New York’s 21 Club.
However, comedian and 21 Club
regular, George Jessel, laid claim to
the drink, his declaration confirmed
by a New York Herald Tribune
columnist who, in 1939, referred to
George’s creation as a pick-me-up
called a Bloody Mary.
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As for the name, its true origins
are no clearer than the deep red juice
of its namesake fruit. Some suggest
that Fernand re-named the drink
after a waitress at Bucket of Blood,
while others suggest it was after Mary
Tudor, the 16th century Catholic
Queen of England known for killing
Protestants during her reign.
Bartenders worldwide have
continued to tweak the drink,
making the modern-day Bloody
Mary as versatile as ever.
Bar Mimitsuka, in a basement in
Tokyo’s Ginza district, goes for the
purist approach. To a base of freshly
muddled and strained tomatoes,
head bartender Fumiyasu Mimitsuka
adds French vodka, and a drop of
house-made chilli oil. It is served in
a Himalayan rock salt-rimmed glass
with a single ice cube and extra drops
of chilli oil can be added to suit the
customer’s heat level desires.
By contrast, Sydney café Bloody
with the shrimp, slider, and chicken
wing on top,” owner Cinta Rockey
explains. “It’s a meal and a drink; for
me, that’s everything.”
Melbourne-based hawker-style
restaurant Hanoi Hannah also has
fun with the garnish. Its Vietnamese
Bloody Mary combines Tabasco,
Sriracha sauce and Worcestershire
sauce with Yuzu soya sauce,
complementing the flavours with
Vietnamese mint and Thai basil. A
garnish of three stacked vegetarian
spring rolls completes the drink, with
the fried goodness to help with a
hangover.
Evan Stanley from Melbourne’s
Le Bon Ton is a big fan of the Bloody
Mary’s versatility. “One of the best
things about the Bloody Mary is how
infinitely adaptable it is,” he says.
The saloon-style joint specialising
in Southern-inspired barbecue
carries the smoky theme into its
Bloody Mary – Roma tomatoes
THE CURE
Left: Bloody Mary
from Le Bon Ton in
Melbourne. Right
and below: Bloody
Mary’s, Sydney
Mary’s takes inspiration from the
US trend for over-the-top garnishes.
The self-professed masters of the
modern-day Bloody Mary offer 10
versions, including a DIY. Their
biggest seller is the chilli-infused,
vodka-based Bloody Hell, which
comes with a shrimp, a brioche bun
cheeseburger slider, and spicy buffalo
wing garnish.
“The Bloody Mary is known to be a
hangover cure so we had a bit of fun
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3. Jetstar.com 17
TOKYO
Bar Mimitsuka
Wakamatsu Building
Ginza, Chuo-Ku
+81 0) 3 6274 6629
bar-mimi.com
SYDNEY
Bloody Mary’s
332 Victoria Street
Darlinghurst
+61 2 9360 5568
bloodymaryssydney.com.au
Eau de Vie
229 Darlinghurst Road
Darlinghurst
+61 422 263 226
eaudevie.com.au
MELBOURNE
Hanoi Hannah
180 High Street, Prahran
+61 3 9939 5181
hanoihannah.com.au
Le Bon Ton
51 Gipps Street
Collingwood
+61 3 9416 4341
lebonton.com.au
Eau de Vie
1 Malthouse Lane
+61 412 825 441
eaudevie.com.au
smoked in-house are blitzed with
charred red capsicum and fresh
celery. Red wine is added for a
berry burst, a touch of sugar to tie
everything together, and pickle
juice for a subtle vinegar note. Ketel
One vodka is used as the alcoholic
backbone, for its big mouthfeel,
garnished with dill pickle, fresh
lemon, cracked pepper and Old Bay
seasoning.
Though Evan believes a Bloody
Mary doesn’t have to be a hangover
cocktail, he sees its benefits as one.
“It’s kind of got everything you need
at that point of the day,” he says. “You
get to sweat out a little of the toxins
with the chilli, it’s got tomato juice
so you can pretend you’re feeling
healthy after a big night out on the
booze, and it’s got a little bit of hair
of the dog. It doesn’t have to be a
hangover drink, but it’s pretty well
suited for that purpose.”
Greg Sanderson, General Manager
of Eau de Vie cocktail bars in Sydney
and Melbourne, used to get frustrated
when somebody would order a
Bloody Mary at 11 in the evening.
“But then another bartender pointed
out that it’s not our place to judge
when people drink it and for all we
know they’ve only just gotten up.”
Eau de Vie has toned down the
spice level, making it more palatable
for late-night drinking, by adding dry
sherry to the vodka base with salt-
TRY IT
HERE
“One of the best
things about the
Bloody Mary is how
infinitely adaptable
it is.”
Bloody Mary’s
Classic Bloody Mary
INGREDIENTS
• 5ml orcestershire auce
• 5ml fresh horseradish
• 10ml lemon uice
• 45ml etel ne vodka
• 90ml fresh tomato uice
• 2 dashes of abasco
alf fill a tall glass with ice,
add all ingredients and stir
cured tomato juice and a pickled-
onion puree. Tabasco is served on
the side.
So, while the debate continues over
who first paired vodka with tomato
juice, thankfully there’s no contest
over what time to enjoy a Bloody
Mary and which ingredients should
be included (or excluded). This makes
it the perfect accompaniment to long
summer brunches, or at nearly any
time of the day.
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