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Fall and football season — feels like the perfect time for a tall bloody mary, spiked with, at the least, fresh horseradish and black pepper.
Maybe you adore the accouterments, whether just celery and a pepperoncini or over-the-top skewers of sausages and fried chicken. Perhaps your tastes appreciate the extra punch of cayenne-infused vodka, or you like to swap the usual flavorless spirit for tequila or gin. (R.I.P. to 1022 South J , which served the latter Red Snapper by default. We can look forward to imbibing them at the reincarnation of Gilman House as Room 428, which specializes in gin.) Heck, it’s also great with just a splash of soda water.
Interestingly, in the United States, the original bloody mary — whose origins likely lay at Harry’s New York Bar in 1920s Paris — was mixed with gin. Vodka was relatively rare stateside until the second half of the 20th century. They also weren’t necessarily a daytime-only cure for the prior night’s ills.
Either way, bartender Fernand Petiot is usually credited with combining liquor and tomato juice with salt and pepper, a dash of lemon, Worcestershire and hot sauce. An American named George Jessel brought the vodka into play with a hint of Tabasco, shaken with ice and poured into a highball glass.
In Canada, bars serve the Bloody Caesar, which differs primarily in its use of Clamato, also oft-seen in micheladas.
Some people swear by not shaking a bloody mary, insisting the drink loses too much of its viscosity that way, and will give it a stir in the serving glass. Others insist on the roll , which entails carefully sliding the liquid from one tin of a Boston shaker to the other. Shaking introduces too many bubbles, goes the thinking.
They are somewhat of an acquired taste, but where there is brunch, there are bloodies.
Around Tacoma and Pierce County, where do you love ordering them? We’ve collected a list of about 50 places that serve them regularly. Vote for your favorite below.
If we missed your pick, let us know through the Google Form, also below. If you want to elaborate on your choice, share it there, too.
We’ll reveal the winners later this month.