Ah the age old question: Bloody Mary or Coffee for breakfast?

I love a good Bloody Mary for breakfast. You could also tempt me with a Bellini or a Mimosa. But one thing I don’t like: double-fisting at breakfast. And when the server comes to my table, I’m always torn: Coffee or Alcohol?

But why not both?! And why are we so limited in our breakfast cocktail options?

A quick history: Mimosas are considered to be, according to The Oxford Companion to American Food and Drink, “one of America’s first designer cocktails,” possibly made by (or at least popularised by) Alfred Hitchcock, as that clever SOB marketed to his buddies at a luncheon as a hangover cure. (PS, Drinking more alcohol as a “hangover cure,” sometimes known as Hair of the Dog, does not actually help your hangovers…)

Because they were slightly sweet with juice and bubbly to boot, they paired perfectly with breakfast-y foods.

The Bloody Mary has a cool story, too, albeit a murky one.

Fernand Petiot created it in 1934 at the St. Regis Hotel in NYC, and it was originally called the Red Snapper. The name Bloody Mary either came from one of four sources:

1. Queen Mary Tudor’s public execution

2. A waitress named Mary who worked at the Bucket of Blood Saloon in Chicago

3. A lady who would frequent Petiot’s bar and wait for a lover who would never show

4. Comedienne Mary Brown Warburton spilled the drink on her white dress and shouted, “Now you can call me Bloody Mary, George!” (Referring to comedian George Jessel, who gave her the drink.)

Whatever way it was, the Bloody Mary, arguably one of the most complex cocktails combining umami flavours (Worcestershire sauce), sour (citrus, normally lemon), trigeminal effects (spices, horseradish, vodka), and salt, usually garnished with ridiculous things.

But the hero at breakfast time for most of us is coffee, and besides the boring and usually too sweet Irish Coffee, there is nothing else that combines that caffeinated elixir of life with booze to make something interesting and delicious.

I wanted to change that.

This cocktail is versatile because the ingredients can be interchanged to feature your local coffee shop’s offerings or whatever sugar you have around your house!

• 2 oz. Whiskey (I used Canadian Club, but this could be interchanged for Bourbon)*

• 1 oz. orange juice

• .5 oz. cold brew coffee

• 2 tsp. sugar syrup of your choice (I used brown sugar syrup, but here is an encyclopaedia of sugars that you could choose from (and their recipes, if needed).

• A wedge of lemon (1/16th of a lemon)

• Bitters/Tinctures of your choice (I used Toasted Pecan and Cinnamon)

Muddle the first five ingredients together and shake vigorously with ice. Strain into a glass. Top with bitters/tinctures!

Cheers!