Smoked Bloody Mary
We love a great Bloody Mary cocktail. This recipe is adapted from a good friend of ours, Chef Carl Hazel of St. Louis, MO. While we’ve made a few minor adjustments, the recipe is fairly true to his original concept and we’re excited to share it with you! Make your brunch better with this high quality Smoked Bloody Mary Mix.
This mix recipe is best with an overnight chill in the fridge, so plan ahead! Also, check the notes below on how to adjust to a vegetarian option.
Yield: about 18 cups of Smoked Bloody Mary Mix (enough for about 23 cocktails)
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Ingredients
For the Smoked Bloody Mary Mix:
8 large tomatoes or about 12 Roma tomatoes, cored and halved
3 red onions, peeled and cut into at least eighths
1 poblano pepper, seeded and quartered
2 serrano peppers, seeded and halved
8 5/8 cups (69 oz.) tomato juice (about 1 1/2, 46 oz., cans), divided
2 tablespoons beef base or demi glace (such as Better than Bullion Beef Base)*
12 oz. lemon juice
10 oz. lime juice
10 cloves garlic, peeled and lightly crushed
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup molasses
15 oz. Worcestershire sauce (such as Lea & Perrins Original)*
1 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
4 teaspoons celery salt
2 tablespoons ground white peppercorn
1 1/2 tablespoons celery seed
1 2” x 2” x 2” hunk of Irish peat**
Disposable foil tray
Charcoal grill/smoker**
For the Cocktail:
2 oz. vodka (we recommend Tito’s Vodka)
2 dashes celery bitters (such as Scrappy’s Celery Bitters)
Celery stalk (for garnish)
Lime wedge (for garnish)
Flaky Kosher Salt (for rim of the glass, such as David’s Kosher Salt)
12 oz. highball or Collins glass (recommended, but it’s your journey)
Ice
Smoked Bloody Mary Mix (to fill the glass, about 6-8 oz.)
Instructions
For the Smoked Bloody Mary Mix:
Combine the cut tomatoes, red onion, poblano, and serrano peppers in the foil tray.
Veggies in tray, ready for smoking
Prepare your grill/smoker for smoking/indirect heat. You only need a small amount of charcoal for this quick smoke. Once the charcoal is lit, add the hunk of peat to the top of the charcoal. Place the foil tray on the grate and smoke for about 15-30 minutes, depending on the desired level of smokiness. You’re not really looking to cook the vegetables in this step, but rather allow the smoke flavors to infuse into the water molecules of the vegetables.
While the vegetables smoke, lightly toast the celery seed in a dry skillet until fragrant. Set aside.
Remove the vegetables from the smoker and transfer the entire contents of the foil tray into a large stock pot over high heat. Add in 46 oz. of the tomato juice (reserving about 23 oz. for later) and all of the remaining Mix ingredients to the pot. Stir well.
Bring the mixture to a boil and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and puree the mixture (preferably using an immersion blender). Strain the pureed mixture through a fine mesh strainer into another large container/pot. You’ll probably have a good amount of solids to remove so you’ll need to periodically empty out the strainer. Discard the solids (or if you feel creative, designate for another use).
Place the strained mixture in the fridge for at least 8 hours/overnight. While this step isn’t strictly necessary, we think that this cooling step allows the flavors to really meld. Additionally, since the cocktail is enjoyed cold, the final seasoning of the mix should also be done when the mixture is cold.
The Next Day
In the morning, stir in the additional 23 oz. of tomato juice to the strained mixture. Taste and adjust for seasoning as needed (such as with additional tomato juice, salt, pepper, Worcestershire, or lemon juice). It’s rare that we do much adjusting at this stage since further adjustments can always be made in the cocktails individually. Transfer the mixture into serving containers/carafes. Store in the fridge for up to 7-10 days.
For the Cocktail:
Rub the lime wedge around the edge of the glass and rim with salt. Add the vodka, celery bitters, and Hellfire shrub to the glass. Top with ice. Fill the remainder of the glass with the Smoked Bloody Mary Mix. Garnish with the lime wedge and a celery stalk (also useful for lightly mixing the cocktail).
Optional garnishes/additives that you may also consider include: olives, freshly grated horseradish, hot sauce, lemon wedge, Worcestershire sauce, black pepper, and celery salt. The poblano and serrano add a good bit of heat to the mix, so we haven’t found horseradish and hot sauce to be necessary.
Notes
*Make it Vegetarian/Vegan
If you would like to make this a vegetarian recipe, swap out the beef base for a vegetarian base, such as Better than Bullion No Beef Base. You’ll also need to make sure to use a vegetarian/vegan Worcestershire sauce. We’d recommend The Wizard’s Organic Gluten Free Vegan Worcestershire Sauce.
**Can’t find peat? Want to skip the smoking?
If you don’t have any peat available, you can use a small chunk of mild hardwood, such as apple, cherry, or pecan wood. Since these will produce a much stronger flavor than the peat, we’d recommend only smoking the vegetables for 10-15 minutes.
If you’d like to skip the smoking altogether, place the foil tray of cut vegetables in a 425°F oven to roast for about 30-45 minutes instead. Mix the vegetables halfway through the roasting time. You’re looking to just start to develop some browning on the vegetables to bring in some additional flavor for the mix. Remove from the oven and proceed with the rest of the recipe as above, beginning with the transfer into the stock pot.
Smoked Bloody Mary Cocktail, garnished with lime wedge and celery.
