This week, we’re excited to break down barriers and get you loving Bloody Mary alternatives that don’t feature any tomato juice.

Too often, I’ve heard people lament that they wish they loved Bloodies, but hate tomatoes, and have dismissed the cocktail as a whole. While I understand, the Bloody is a bridge between food and drink, is considered one of the most nuanced and complex cocktails ever created, and is a quintessential umami cocktail.

So let’s chat about why you might hate the Bloody Mary.

At the American Chemical Society’s 241st meeting, U.S. flavour expert Neil Da Costa deemed the Bloody Mary the most complex cocktail based on its flavour chemistry.

• It contains hundreds of flavour compounds (including 10 ingredients in Worcestershire sauce, and over 400 compounds in tomatoes)

AND

• It covers a range of basic flavours (sweet, sour, salty, and umami…but not bitter), and chemical sensations (generally caused by the heat of spice)

A lot of folks cite hating the Bloody Mary because of the tomatoes, which makes sense for two reasons:

1. There are over 400 volatile organic compounds in a tomato (these contribute to the specific smell and taste that a tomato has) AND

2. Some people lack certain taste receptors which prevent you from appreciating the sweet, rich taste tomatoes have to offer.

There are over two dozen compounds in a tomato that have been identified as being crucial to a tomato’s sweeter flavour, and you might lack the ability to taste it, instead only tasting something umami and …”gross.”

If you’d like to deep dive more into the science of tomatoes, flavour, and chemical compounds, this is where you want to go!

Bloody mary alternatives

JUST ADD NOODLES

I wanted to recreate the complexity, nuance, and umami flavours of the Bloody Mary WITHOUT tomato, and this bright, spicy, and tangy drink is both savoury and a little sweet.

• 2 oz. vodka

• 1 oz. orange juice

• .5 oz of kimchi juice

• .25 oz Apologue Celery Root Liqueur (don’t have access to this ingredient? Substitute it for Mirin instead!)

• Dash of Hot Sauce

• Wedge of Lemon

Add the first five ingredients into a shaker and muddle the lemon. Shake over ice, then strain into a chilled glass with large ice cube, and garnish with a pepper.

The Easter Bunny Mary

We also created a fun carrot juice-based cocktail that is the perfect nod to Easter. This ginger-y, fiery cocktail can use Coleman’s Dry English Mustard or curry powder to spice it up (you can add 1/2 tsp. to the ginger syrup).

• 2 oz. vodka

• 1 oz. Lakewood Organic carrot juice

• dash of hot sauce

• 1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

• .25 oz ginger syrup

• Wedge of Lemon

Add the first five ingredients into a shaker and muddle the lemon. Shake over ice, then strain into a chilled glass with large hot sauce-infused ice cube and a large piece of ginger.