It’s time again for another round of cocktails. This time, we have the seemingly ubiquitous Bloody Mary on the bar. A very popular drink indeed. As we all know, success has a thousand mothers; each claiming to make the best one. The best one I have found, from the west coast to the east and the dirty coast in between, is the Bloody Mary from Finn McCool’s Irish bar here in New Orleans.
Research & Design:
The Bloody Mary is not their only claim to fame; Finn’s is also known for pulling a damn fine pint of Guinness, as the establishment is home to all of the British ex-pats in New Orleans and is owned by a few Irish folks. Primarily a green, Celtic football loving place, you won’t get knocked around for showing up in a Chelsea or West Ham strip. Honest.
My mixologist was Dawn and she was kind enough to share her recipe with Tango Echo and the world. Starting with ice in a stainless steel shaker, she added a shot of vodka. We went with a well shot of vodka. I belong to the vodka school that believes once you add anything other than ice to vodka, who cares what brand it is? It’s been bastardized. Dawn uses homemade New Orleans style Bloody Mary mix and adds it to the shaker. Next comes a splash of grapefruit juice (who knew?), a couple of healthy shakes of Worcestershire sauce and a dab of horseradish. Since pickled green beans are used as garnish, she poured in a tincture of the juice making a dirty Bloody Mary, as it were.
She thoroughly shook the concoction, expertly pouring it into a tall highball glass. After a squeeze of fresh lemon, the wedge was added to the glass. It was garnished with two pickled green beans (about 3" to 4" in length) and two skewered green olives. Then, for the piece de résistance, she pulled a wee amount of Guinness on top of the glass. Whew!
Taste:
Considering all of the ingredients, it was extremely well balanced in taste. In New Orleans, we like spice and then more spice. Not burn-your-mouth hot spice, but a flavorful spice. Not too tomato-y, no sour horseradish at the bottom to shoot up your straw into your mouth; just a very delicious Bloody Mary. It went down way too easily and I was left with lonely ice cubes in my glass. What a way to start the day!
Until the next round, salud!
Finn’s Bloody Mary -
1 Jigger vodka
Homemade Bloody Mary mix: tomato juice, celery salt, pepper, and Tabasco- to taste.
Splash of grapefruit juice
Several shakes of Worcestershire sauce
A dab of horseradish
A tincture of pickled green bean juice (or green olive juice)
Shake well with ice
Pour into a tall glass and garnish with:
A squeeze of fresh lemon wedge
2 to 3 long pickled green beans
2 to 3 green olives
For Finn’s final touch, float a wee pull of Guinness on the top!
Photos courtesy of Erwin Schoonderwaldt, Suzanne Richards, and Barbloke.
