5 Crazy V-8 Bloody Marys to Cure Your Horrible Hangover

Restore yourself by spiking the classic tomato drink with vodka and vittles.

When it comes to choosing a mass-market tomato juice for bloodies, it’s basically either V-8 or Clamato. You can like both, of course, but you should really pick a side. 

I’ve always preferred V-8’s salty viscosity over Clamato’s more quaffable lightness, though both make a fine bloody in a pinch. V-8 is kind of like the A-1 steak sauce of supermarket-stocked vegetable drinks; even if it’s not the best mary mixer out there, it’s still pretty damn good.  

V-8 has seized upon its alpha juice status by launching a website called the Bloody Mary Society, which assembles bloodies inspired by cities around the country. Most are considerably more labor-intensive than merely adding a shot of vodka to your V-8 on ice and augmenting with worcestershire, black pepper and/or horseradish. 

That’ll do just fine, but these five freaky bloodies are for adventurous types who want to kick it up a notch. 

Chicago Style Bloody (pictured above):

Ingredients:

• 1/2 teaspoon poppy seeds
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 wedge lemon
• 2 dill pickle spears
• 12 fluid ounces V8® 100% Vegetable Juice (about 1 1/2 cups), chilled
• 4 fluid ounces vodka (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons yellow mustard
• 3/4 teaspoon dill pickle juice
• 3/4 teaspoon finely grated sweet onion

Instructions:

Servings: 2

1. Stir the poppy seeds and 1/4 teaspoon celery salt on a plate. Rub the cut side of the lemon wedge around the rims of 2 glasses. Dip the rims of the glasses into the poppy seed mixture to coat. Place the pickle spears into the glasses. Fill the glasses with ice.
2. Stir the vegetable juice, vodka, mustard, pickle juice, onion and remaining celery salt in a pitcher. Season to taste. Pour the vegetable juice mixture into the glasses.
3. Serving Suggestion: Garnish with skewers of Chicago-style favorites, like cherry tomatoes, sport peppers or pepperoncini peppers, gherkins, grilled Vienna sausages (or Vienne Beef hot dogs if you’re in Chicago), and/or cocktail onions.

Fells Point Mary (Baltimore)

Ingredients:

• 1 bottle (64 fluid ounces) V8® 100% Vegetable Juice (about 8 cups)
• 1 can (10 ½ ounces) Campbell’s® Healthy Request® Condensed Cream of Celery Soup
• 1/4 cup fresh horseradish
• 1/2 cup reduced sodium Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup dill pickle juice
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 4 tablespoons Old Bay® Seasoning
• 1 raw oyster (preferably from the Chesapeake Bay)
• 1 ½ fluid ounces vodka (1 shot or about 3 tablespoons)

Instructions:

Servings: 1

1. For Fells Point Bloody Mary Mix, add ½ of the bottle of vegetable juice (about 4 cups) and soup to a blender and blend until smooth. Pour mixture into a large pitcher and stir in the remaining vegetable juice (about 4 cups), horseradish, Worcestershire, pickle juice, lemon and Old Bay® seasoning.
2. Shuck the oyster and reserve the oyster and oyster liquor.
3. Fill a pint glass with ice. Stir the reserved oyster liquor, Bloody Mary Mix and vodka in the glass.
4. Serving Suggestion: Garnish with the reserved raw oyster, 2 pickled green beans and 1 dill pickle spear. Sprinkle with additional Old Bay® Seasoning.

Porterluma Bloody (Petaluma, Calif.)

Ingredients:

• 4 fluid ounces V8® 100% Vegetable Juice (about ½ cup)
• 2 fluid ounces Petaluma Hills Porterluma® Brown Porter or other porter beer (about ¼ cup)
• 1 teaspoon F.A. Nino’s Mango Habanero Hot Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon horseradish
• 1/4 teaspoon lime juice
• 1 pinch each salt, ground black pepper, and celery seed

Instructions:

Servings: 1

1. Add the vegetable juice, porter, hot sauce, Worcestershire, horseradish, lime juice, salt, black pepper and celery seed to a cocktail shaker. Cover and shake to mix.
2. Fill a pint glass with ice. Pour the vegetable juice mixture into the glass.
3. Serving Suggestion: Garnish with a cooked bacon slice, asparagus stalks and a cold, cooked, peeled shrimp.

Miami Mary

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut, toasted
• 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 wedge lime
• 12 fluid ounces Spicy Hot V8® juice (about 1 1/2 cups), chilled
• 4 fluid ounces orange-flavored vodka (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup coconut water
• 2 tablespoons lime juice 1/2 teaspoon celery salt
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (try one with a blend of habanero, ghost and ancho peppers)

Instructions:

Servings: 2

1. Place the coconut water, ancho chile powder and salt into a blender. Cover and blend until the mixture is finely ground. Pour the coconut mixture onto a plate. Rub the cut side of the lime wedge around the rims of 2 glasses. Dip the rims into the coconut mixture to coat. Fill the glasses with ice.
2. Stir the vegetable juice, vodka, orange juice, coconut water, lime juice, celery salt and hot pepper sauce in a pitcher. Season to taste. Pour the vegetable mixture into the glasses.
3. Serving Suggestion: Garnish with skewers of sliced lime and/or orange.

Ultimate Bloody (courtesy of OutForBloodies.com)

Ingredients:

• 8 fluid ounces V8® 100% Vegetable Juice with a squeeze of lime (about 1 cup)
• 2 fluid ounces Referent Horseradish-Infused Vodka (about ¼ cup)
• 1 dash pickle juice
• ½ tablespoon lemon juice
• ½ tablespoon Frank’s® RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce
• 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 1 dash garlic salt
• 1 dash lemon pepper
• 1 dash freshly ground pepper
• 1 dash celery salt plus additional for rim
• 1 lime wedge

Instructions:

Servings: 1

1. Add the vegetable juice, vodka, pickle juice, lemon juice, cayenne pepper sauce, Worcestershire, garlic salt, lemon pepper, black pepper and celery salt to a pint glass. Transfer the mixture to a cocktail shaker. Add ice. Cover and shake to chill.
2. Pour some additional celery salt onto a plate. Rub the lime wedge around the rim of the pint glass. Dip the rim of the glass into the celery salt to coat. Pour the vegetable juice and ice mixture back into the pint glass.
3. Serving Suggestion: Garnish with Fixin’s as follows:
4. Place a celery stalk, pickle spear, cooked bacon strip, stalk of pickled asparagus and a Benny’s Original Meat Straw™ or smoked meat stick into the glass.
5. Skewer a pickled Brussels sprout, pickled onion and pickled mushroom and add to the glass.
6. Skewer 2 olives and add to the glass.
7. Skewer a lemon wedge, a lime wedge and a gherkin and add to the glass.
8. Top with mozzarella cheese whips.