Curio’s Bloody Mary

Makes enough mixer for 4–6 cocktails.

A well-made Bloody Mary is a year-round brunch favorite. It’s a batch friendly cocktail too, which makes it terrific for entertaining. We use our Chili Today! for its deep flavor and kick of heat and Caitlin's Celery Salt for a savory, herbal rim.

For the cocktail mix:
2 cups tomato passata*
1 tablespoon Chili Today!
3 tablespoons lemon juice, more to taste
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon horseradish, optional
Hot sauce (such as Tabasco), to taste

For the cocktails:
¾ cup vodka (2 ounces per cocktail)

For the rim:
½ lemon
2 tablespoons Caitlin's Celery Salt

Garnish:
Leafy celery stalks

Stir the cocktail mix ingredients together in a pitcher. Chill until ready to use.

Put the celery salt into a saucer or shallow bowl. Wipe the rims of 4 collins glasses or pint jars with the cut side of the lemon, then dip the rims into the celery salt. Put a few ice cubes into the glasses and set them aside.

In a pitcher, combine the cocktail mix with 2 cups cold water and stir to combine. To make a batch of cocktails, stir all the vodka into the mixer. To make individual cocktails, pour the diluted mixer into each glass to three-quarters full. Stir in two ounces vodka.

Put a celery stalk in each glass and use it to give the drink a gentle stir.

*Passata Alternatives:

From canned tomatoes: You can make a serviceable tomato juice from diced or crushed canned tomatoes. Make sure they’re the plain ones, without extra herbs or seasoning.

1 can (15 ounces) diced or crushed tomatoes
1- 1½ teaspoons honey
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼–½ teaspoon salt (if the tomatoes are no-salt-added)

Put all the ingredients (start with the lesser amounts of honey and salt) into the jar of a blender. Fill the tomato can half-full with cold water and add the water to the blender. Process on high until smooth. Taste and add more honey, lemon, or salt if needed.

From scratch: During the height of tomato season, you can make marvelous fresh juice. Grate whole beefsteak tomatoes into a bowl using the large holes of a box grater. Discard the skin. Season the juice with a little salt and strain it (or don’t — it’s your call).