Bartels - The Bloody Mary: the lore and legend of a cocktail classic, with recipes for brunch and beyond

Copyright 2017 by Brian Bartels

Photographs copyright 2017 by Eric Medsker

Illustrations copyright 2017 by Ruby Taylor

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Bartels, Brian, author.

Title: The Bloody Mary : the lore and legend of a cocktail classic, with recipes for brunch and beyond / by Brian Bartels ; photography by Eric Medsker.

Description: First edition. | Berkeley : Ten Speed Press, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016032143 (print) | LCCN 2016036958 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Bloody Marys (Cocktails) | BISAC: COOKING / Beverages / Wine & Spirits. | COOKING / Beverages / Bartending. | COOKING / Courses & Dishes / Brunch.

Classification: LCC TX951 .B269 2017 (print) | LCC TX951 (ebook) | DDC 641.87/4dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016032143Hardcover

Hardcover ISBN9781607749981

Ebook ISBN9781607749998

v4.1

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This book is dedicated to my grandfather Roland Bartels, who taught me inspiration; to my family and friends, who teach me about love and music; and to all bartenders and service professionals everywhere.

The world is our crossword, and there is no hidden meaning for one simple clue: Engage.

contents

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

recipe list

introduction

Before we begin, I have a confession: I used to be skeptical of the legendary drink we know as the Bloody Mary. I was a scrawny little wisenheimer, just out of college and living in Madison, Wisconsin. When it came to day drinking, I was a steadfast beer man. Beer was fast, simple, and it made me feel ten years older than my dumb youth. Yet every Saturday and Sunday morning, when I arrived at my bartending gig at the Great Dane brewpub, the Bloody Mary was there waiting for me: red and soupy, viscous and spicy.

Wisconsinites are thirsty and wonderful people. We greet each day with a celebratory joie de vivreand Friday is no exception. This often means that our Saturday starts with a Bloody. In a bar, there are probably more Bloody Marys made and ordered on a Saturday than the six other days combined. During my early days as a bartender, I had to learn how to be creative and fast on the busiest Bloody day of the week. I soon discovered that a bartender cant make drinks fast enough in a college town. And so my complicated relationship with the Bloody Mary began.

Ive been behind the stick for nearly twenty years, most recently as beverage director of Gabriel Stulmans Happy Cooking Hospitality groups restaurants: Joseph Leonard, Jeffreys Grocery, Fedora, Perla Cafe, and Bar Sardine, all in New York Citys Greenwich Village. Our restaurants celebrate the spirit of communal dining, so its no surprise that the most convivial of cocktails, the Bloody Mary, plays a key role. We have built a reputation for being a great venue for (often Bloody Maryfueled) neighborhood get-togethers, and as such, we are constantly working to develop, sustain, and improve the Happy Cooking Bloody Mary portfolio.

But that doesnt mean Ive forgotten where it all began: the untamable brunch service at the Great Dane, my first scheduled shift as a bartender.

Every Saturday morning, Id enter workhungover, sleep-deprivedand fumble with ingredients while my manager and fellow bartenders snickered at my inexperienced, gawky attempts to impress. My reflexes were still adjusting to unfamiliar movements like shaking cocktails, pouring the perfect pint, and cutting bottomless buckets of lemons and limes without slicing my finger off. No matter what I did, I was too slow. I felt like I was learning how to fly-fish in a kayak in torrential rains. But I was determined to do well; I was the new guy, and I had to learn technique and etiquette before I could graduate to the nobler night shift (and the privilege of sleeping in after working [and drinking] Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights). The Bloody Mary was the gatekeeper; it was the sphinx that guarded the entrance to the world of bartending. To move forward, I had to master the Bloodyand unlock its mysteries.

The first thing I learned was that a very specific social climate forms wherever Bloody Marys are poured. Ive seen drinkers, wild-eyed, ravenous, and possibly still a touch inebriated from the previous evening, detour from important appointments just to have one. I have seen devotees park outside closed restaurant doors, tapping their feet and champing at the bit to get inside and order the sacred libation, then spend an entire morning and afternoon nursing them. The Bloody is not a drink one sucks down, vacuumlike. It is not a shot. Its an esteemed cocktail that commands patience.

The Bloody Mary also taught me that everyone is unique. Bloody Mary bartenders and drinkers all enjoy the tweak, as I like to call itadding an extra dash of Tabasco, a splash of crisp lager, or an extra olive (or six).

Learning to make a great Bloody Mary also taught me about survival. Its restorative power is unmatched in the cocktail worldand I felt powerful, too, handing a Bloody to a tattered, shaky-handed customer, then watching as they rose, phoenixlike, from the ashes of the night before. All it takes is a few sips. For the more restrained and health-conscious among us, we enjoy a Bloody for its antioxidants, nutrients, and electrolytes. Or simply for the fortifying conversation it inspires. The Bloody Mary is very much a public cocktail. The over-the-top garnishes turn heads when a Bloody enters a room. It gets people talking.

Wheres yours? is the most common refrain in any Bloody Maryrelated conversation. The first one arrives, and the person drinking glances around to see who else will partake, to see who else will join him or her on the long, hard road to recovery. Its no surprise, then, that the Bloody Mary thrives in and around barbecues and picnics, tailgates, breakfast and brunch hotspots, airports, train stations, golf courses, book groups, or wherever people are getting ready to seize the day.

To this day, no other cocktail has achieved as much notoriety as the Bloody Mary. The stakes are high when you order a Bloody, which might explain why many bartenders (including my youthful self) sigh when they hear you ask for one. But in fact, the Bloody Mary is an opportunity for any bartender, amateur or professional, to show off their best selves: the affable and engaging party host, a medical practitioner eager to heal, an artist with a blank canvas. And really, we should welcome any reason to take a moment to catch up on life; to possibly gain some much-needed clarity on what happened in the past twelve to twenty-four hours; to ask the important questions, such as where are my keys, phone, and pants. Ever the social butterfly, the Bloody Mary bridges the gaps among us all.