It’s a languid winter Saturday. Fresh snow is piled on the pine boughs and the coffee pot is empty. It’s time for a Bloody Mary, the queen of breakfast cocktails and a surefire way to stoke your inner warmth before heading out to play in the snow. The pursuit of this perfectly piquant brunch buzz requires top shelf ingredients, including the essential American Spoon Bloody Mary Mix.
Northern Michigan is flush with small-batch distillers, preserve wizards, spice companies and smokehouses. Our fiery Bloody Mary recipe starts with the subtle spice of Grand Traverse Distillery’s “True North” Rye Vodka, elevated by the essence of summer tomatoes spiked with hand-grated horseradish and loads of fresh dill in American Spoon’s Bloody Mary Mix. We’ve sidestepped trendy farcical garnishes like cheeseburgers … but you will get a tangy fermented New York-style pickle spear from Traverse City Pickle Company, a smoky strip of Plath’s bacon and a firecracker rim of Bloody Mary seasoning from Alden’s Mill House.
MyNorth Bloody Mary
Ingredients: Rim
- Lemon wedges
- Our Own Bloody Mary Mix, Alden’s Mill House
Ingredients: Cocktail
- 1 ounce True North Rye Vodka, Grand Traverse Distillery
- 3 ounces Bloody Mary Mix, American Spoon
- 1 pickle spear, Traverse City Pickle Company
- 1 stalk celery (leaves attached)
- 1 strip bacon (crisped), Plath’s Meats
- cracked black pepper
Method
Place Alden’s Mill House Bloody Mary seasoning on a small plate, wet the rim of a rocks glass with lemon, invert glass and twist in spice mixture to coat rim. Fill glass with ice, add vodka, American Spoon Bloody Mary mix and stir to combine. Garnish with pickle spear, celery and bacon and top with freshly cracked black pepper.