Bloody Mary History: From Paris to Your Glass

The Bloody Mary stands alone in the cocktail world as it does not fit into any of the 36 categories we usually use to define a cocktail type. This is to say that there are no other cocktails that I can think of that have a base spirit + savoury fruit/vegetable juice + spices + vegetables—and quite possibly for good reason.

The origins of the Bloody Mary, like many cocktails, are disputed, but the version of the story that makes the most sense to me is that it was invented in Paris in 1921 by Fernand Petiot. As a result of the Russian Revolution, many Russian people flocked to France and brought vodka with them.

Fernand Petiot was working the bar at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris, where he claims to have first mixed vodka and tomato juice. In those days, it was 50/50 vodka and tomato and was called a Red Snapper. Harry’s New York Bar was a favored hangout for people like Humphrey Bogart and Ernest Hemingway, among other big names, so maybe it isn’t a great shock to see that, during the Prohibition years in America, an imported product called Tomato Juice Cocktail was sold in restaurants or speakeasies.

Fernand Petiot was headhunted and soon found himself working at the 21 Club in New York, where the two other alleged creators enter the story. While it is impossible to know for sure who created the Bloody Mary, what is evident today is that it has become a global household name.

Many people say that a Bloody Mary is a good cure for a hangover. Of course, this is a personal choice as much as anything else—not everyone wants to start their day with alcohol, no matter how uplifting the cocktail might be.

My advice when making a Bloody Mary is to keep it simple. I have seen some very complicated attempts at a Bloody Mary over the years, and none of them are better than sticking to the basics.