Smoked Bloody Mary, The Ultimate BBQ Eye-Opener

Smoked ice is the secret to the best Bloody Mary you’ve ever experienced.

The Bloody Mary is the classic eye-opener, 19th holer, hair of the dog, and a chance to drink your veggies. The Bloody Mary has a name that cannot be forgotten and is the breakfast drink of choice for millions of Americans on a Sunday, and more than a few a few Mondays.

The Smoked Bloody Mary is made with my secret ingredient: Smoked ice. Adding to the BBQ and grilling vibe, this cocktail recipe also includes a dash of BBQ sauce, dry rub, and bacon. This is an absolute must, cranking a great drink all the way up to 11.

The Origin of the Bloody Mary

The original is believed to have been invented in the 1921 by Fernand Petiot, an American tending bar in Paris, although the entertainer George Jessel made a credible claim to the recipe. Or perhaps the origin was a cocktail called “Red Snapper” at the King Cole Bar and Lounge of the St. Regis Hotel, New York in 1934. When Tabasco sauce was added the name “Bloody Mary” was applied.

The origin of the name is clouded. Some believe the inspiration for the cocktail was the Hollywood star Mary Pickford who earlier had a cocktail consisting of rum, grenadine and maraschino named after her. It was most likely named after England’s Queen Mary I, nicknamed Bloody Mary for her violence against Protestants in the 1500s. The drink may also have gotten its name from a folkloric witch. According to legend, she will appear if you call her name three times. I’ll tell you this, if you yell Bloody Mary three times at my favorite bartender, she’ll toss you out on your keister.

In the 1960s it became popular to serve the cocktail with a celery stick when a guest at “The Pump Room” at the “Ambassador East Hotel” in Chicago, requested something with which to stir his drink. Someone gave him a celery stick and a legend was born. Today garnishes of every kind can be seen with the Bloody Mary, even shrimp, olives, carrots, ribs, and even a sardine for the very courageous.

Variations of the drink abound giving birth to hundreds of descendants of the original Red Snapper.Bloody Mary is the name of a pivotal character in James Michener’s book Tales of the South Pacific that, in 1949, was made into the brilliant Broadway musical South Pacific by Rogers and Hammerstein. Bloody Mary was a dark skinned matron and wheeler dealer on an island, and mother of the female love interest of the white male lead, Lt. Cable. The themes are deep and profound: War, sacrifice, race, and interracial love.

Smoked Bloody Mary Recipe

Author: Meathead

3.48 from 48 votes

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Anybody can make a Bloody Mary, and goodness knows there are as many recipes as there are women named Mary. This recipe takes it up a notch and shows your barbecue cred, but there are many options and variations available.

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 1 cocktail

Course: Beverage, Cocktail

Cuisine: American

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

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• 4 ounces V8 juice or tomato juice
• 1 1/2 ounces 80 proof unflavored vodka
• 1/2 ounce Kansas City style BBQ sauce
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon dill pickle juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 teaspoon bottled horseradish in vinegar (not creamy horseradish)
• 2 squirts Tabasco Chipotle sauce or Tiger Sauce or your favorite hot sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon  Morton Coarse Kosher Salt 
• 2 pinches finely ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Meathead’s Memphis Dust or Meathead's Amazing Pork Rub
• 1 strip grilled bacon
• 1/4 lime for garnishing
• 5 cubes smoked ice

Method

 

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1. Prep. Make the smoked ice.
2. Mix or shake together the V8 juice, vodka, barbecue sauce, lime juice, Worcestershire, pickle juice, horseradish, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.
3. Pour the Meathead's Memphis Dust into a small plate like a coffee saucer and spread it out evenly. Take the lime wedge and run it around the rim of a tall (highball) glass to moisten it. Invert the glass and place it on the spice mix and twist it until the rim is well coated.
4. Serve. Add the bacon first, then the smoked ice, pour the drink over the rocks, and hang the lime wedge on the lip of the glass. Serve immediately.

Notes

About the V8. If you wish, slice 3 large juicy ripe tomatoes in half and put them in your smoker at 225°F (107°C), sliced side up, and smoke for an hour. Squeeze the smoked tomatoes into a strainer and push on the pulp with a ladle so most of it goes through. Taste it. If it is too thin, cook it down a bit by boiling it in a non-reactive metal pan. You can do this a few days in advance. You’ll need 4 ounces to make one drink.

About the BBQ sauce. Go easy if it is sweet.

About the lime. The original Bloody Mary probably had a lemon not a lime, but I prefer lime. You can use lemon if you wish. Or both.

About the vodka. If you wish, substitute tequila, white rum, aquavit, gin, grappa, lime vodka, herbed vodka, vodka infused with sun-dried tomatoes, or even a pilsner beer.

About the Worcestershire. I prefer Worcestershire, but for fun, you can try beef bouillon or steak sauce.

Optional mix-ins. Try crushed fresh garlic or garlic powder, grated fresh onion or onion powder, capers. Go easy.

About the Tabasco. You can make your own, or use any of your faves, like Sriracha. Tiger Sauce is my fave.

About the bacon. Feel free to substitute a BBQ Rib, a Slim Jim, beef jerky, or a celery stick.

About the salt. Remember, kosher salt is half the concentration of table salt so if you use table salt, use half as much. Click here to read more about salt and how it works.

The other garnishes. Try green onion, a carrot stick, an asparagus spear, a pickled asparagus spear, a cucumber spear, or a dill pickle spear. Try a skewer with pickled pearl onions, a chunk of jalapeno, a cherry tomato, a sun-dried tomato, a grilled shrimp, prosciutto, olives stuffed with blue cheese or anchovies, or an anchovy filet.

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