The Salt Cellar Bloody Mary

Our Take on a Classic Cocktail

The Bloody Mary, a late prohibition invention, is one of the world's more complicated cocktails. It started in swanky bars, either the New York Bar in Paris, or the 21 Club in New York and worked its way into the popular consciousness almost immediately, probably because of its supposed powers as a hangover cure during a time when alcohol was illegal, and therefore hugely popular. Now the science behind the Bloody Mary hangover cure is dubious at best. True: when consuming more alcohol it delays the onset of symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, and the salts and vitamins in a Bloody Mary do help replace those lost from your body by imbibing. However, really the only thing that is going to cure a hangover is water and time. Still, we too have found solace praying at the altar of Bloody Mary on occasion. Our theory is that it's mostly psychological. It's as much about process and penance as about giving your body what it wants. Making a Bloody Mary is no easy feat. We think the ritual is an important part of exorcising your hangover so don't skimp on process. Assemble your team. There are two major components to a Bloody Mary: tomato juice, and everything else. We started with fresh squeezed tomato juice, for penance. It gave the final product a light, refreshing quality noticeably thinner than a Bloody Mary you might get at a restaurant. If you like your Bloody Marys a little thicker, you can use V8 or use canned or reduced tomato juice. Next is the everything else. Every Bloody Mary recipe is a little bit different, and call for different ingredients and garnishes. Everything from beef bouillon to bacon to blue cheese. We pared it down a bit. The original Bloody Mary was salt, tomato juice, lemon juice, Worcestershire sauce, cayenne pepper, black pepper, vodka, and ice. We found all of those are great, but we cut out the cayenne pepper and replaced the salt with our habanero salt. We added garlic, because it seemed like a good idea in our hung over haze (and garlic contains cysteine, which fights hangovers), Dijon mustard (absolutely optional) and prepared horseradish for punishment and penance, and a little bit of vinegar-based hot sauce (We used Franks, but Tabasco can give you more heat for less vinegar if that's to your taste). We substituted some lime juice for half the lemon juice at the suggestion of many recipes and because lime is simply more interesting. The recipe is for a single Bloody Mary, but when serving for a crowd we kept the proportions and blended all of that together for a drink base, which turned out thick and excellent. This will keep in the fridge for a few days if you are on a spree. Depending on how bad your hangover is, you may want to opt to throw in some Black Lava Salt. The activated charcoal that naturally occurs in the salt is a natural detoxifier and will suck some of that copious free radical badness right out of your stomach and intestines. So now you have your juice, your other stuff, and alcohol. Mix them together together at a rate of about a half shot of mixer, 3-6oz tomato juice, and a generous shot of liquor. Vodka is traditional but we found gin, bourbon, or tequila also work well. Add a little more of the mixer if you like more kick, or less if you like more on the tomato end. You can shake it if you have a shaker but you won't do any harm by stirring instead. We served it in a mason jar rimmed with our Habanero salt and with a pickle and celery for garnish. Feel free to go crazy with the garnishes, everyone else does, and you could probably use something in your stomach.

Ingredients:

• 3-6oz tomato juice
• 2oz liquor
• 1 1/2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice (from about 1 medium lemon)
• 1 1/2 ounces freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 2 medium limes)
• 1 small-medium clove garlic, minced or pressed through a garlic press
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
• 1 1/2 tsp Habanero Salt (plus more for rim)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard (optional).
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce, such as Tabasco or Franks
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Lime Salt for Rim.
• Garnishes

Instructions:

1. Place rim salt in a shallow dish. Rub the rim of a highball glass or mason jar with a cut lemon or lime wedge and dab the glass into lime and habanero salt while turning to create a rim.
2. In a shaker mix all ingredients minus liquor and tomato juice until combined, add liquor and tomato juice for one last shake. Garnish and drink. Curl up until everything feels better.