Vodka Cocktail Hamper - Bloody Mary
TIME TO EXPLORE!
Welcome to the additional content for your luxury Cocktail Hamper. Here you can learn how to make your cocktail, explore its history, and discover the stunning ingredients that go into it. Enjoy!
Hamper Contents
1x Black Cardamom Vodka, 70cl, 40% abv
4x Big Tom Spiced Tomato Juice, 15cl
1x Premium Boston Cocktail Shaker
1x Stainless Spirit Measure
1x Stainless Hawthorne Strainer
1x Serving Guide
Your Cocktail
Ready to make your cocktail? Before you begin, be sure to source the starred items below and get your glassware ready - everything else is provided for you.
Ingredients
50ml Cooper King Black Cardamom Vodka
150ml Big Tom Spiced Tomato Juice
* 12.5ml fresh lemon juice
* Lemon wedge, celery stick and black pepper, to garnish
Glassware: * Highball glass
Method: Add the vodka, tomato juice and lemon juice to a shaker tin filled with ice. Strain the liquid into a shaker glass, then pour back into the tin. Repeat the process (called ‘rolling’) until both tin and glass are chilled. Finally, strain into a highball glass filled with ice and garnish with the lemon wedge, celery stick and a few grinds of black pepper.
Top tip: Watch the video below to learn how to ‘roll’ your cocktail, from our very own mixologist, Laura. Don’t worry if you make a mess - even Laura does sometimes!
Cocktail History
The Bloody Mary cocktail's origins are hotly debated, with numerous folks claiming to be the inventor.
We believe that the Bloody Mary started out life in 1917, when chef Louis Perrin ran out of orange juice at his French Licks hotel in Indiana, USA, so instead served tomato juice to his guests. This was served without alcohol, and went down a storm.
In the 1920s, a Broadway star - George Jessel - visited the French Licks hotel, and would’ve most likely tried the famed tomato juice. Later that decade, it’s claimed he went on to mix tomato juice and vodka, 50:50, to cure a hangover.
The recipe’s popularity spread, and was picked up by bartender Fernand "Pete" Petiot at Harry's New York Bar in Paris. Throughout the 1930s he refined the simple 50:50 mix, modifying proportions and introducing citrus, spices and seasoning, evolving it into the drink we know today.
The cocktail's name is often linked to Queen Mary I of England, known as "Bloody Mary" for her persecution of Protestants, though other theories suggest it was named after a waitress at an infamously rough bar. You’ll have to make up your own mind on that one!
Ingredient Focus: Cooper King Black Cardamom Vodka
Crisp, cooling and captivating: cold-distilled black cardamom pods create a refreshing vodka with a hint of smoke. It’s hand distilled, bottled and labelled at the distillery, using 100% renewable energy.
We first discovered the intense flavour of distilled black cardamom pods when developing the Smoked + Spiced gin for Skosh, a Michelin awarded restaurant in York. The pods gain their smoky aroma from the traditional drying process, which sees them dried over an open wood fire. This is the world’s first black cardamom vodka!
Positive impact. Each bottle restores 1 square metre of UK wildflower habitat, as we donate £0.40 from every sale to our charity partner, Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust.
Hamper Partner: James Whites Drinks
James White Drinks have been based at Whites Fruit Farm in Ashbocking, Suffolk since 1992. They launched Big Tom - their spicy tomato juice in 1997 - which has steadily grown year by year to become the leading spicy tomato juice in Europe. In 2002, they were granted a Royal Warrant by HM The Queen specifically for Big Tom.
They believe the secret to making brilliant juices is to use the best natural ingredients and be confident about strong and distinctive flavours. We think their tomato juice is superb, and a great partner for our Bloody Mary cocktail hamper.