Go Back
–+ servings

Smoked Bloody Mary Recipe

BBQ bloody Mary in glass with celery stalk
Tried this recipe?Tell others what you thought of it and give it a star rating below.
3.48 from 48 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
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.
Serve with: your favorite brunch menu items.
Course:
Beverage
,
Cocktail
Cuisine:
American
difficulty scale

Makes:

Servings: 1 cocktail

Takes:

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric
  • 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
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.
Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

  • Prep. Make the smoked ice.
  • Mix or shake together the V8 juice, vodka, barbecue sauce, lime juice, Worcestershire, pickle juice, horseradish, hot sauce, salt, and pepper.
  • 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.
  • 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.