The Soupy Saga of Bloody Mary

If you have been a regular reader, then you know that trying different cocktails and talking about them has become one of my hobbies. I will urge you to try my favorite cocktails and will often have a reason backing it up – it could be the name, some interesting story attached to it, or the taste.

One such cocktail is Bloody Mary. Now, this cocktail has all the three reasons attached to it. Let’s talk about each of them, and then I will tell you what got me writing this blog post.

The Name

The name in itself is intriguing. When I hadn’t been introduced to the world of cocktails, at least trying it myself part, I was still interested in the name. I had heard the story or folklore often associated with the drink. 

One of my goals or bucket list items was to try Bloody Mary at least once in my lifetime. (Who knew I would become a fan of trying new cocktails and then be paid to talk about them *wink wink* – sounds like a dream come true, doesn’t it?)

Some Interesting Story Attached to It

The story attached to this one isn’t my own but the classic tale that this drink harbors. When I was a kid, most probably in the seventh grade or something, I heard about the story from one of my classmates.

It was supposed to be scary, and at the time, it was! So, here’s what I heard and is the core of every version –

You have to sip the drink and, while looking in a darkened bathroom’s mirror, whisper “Bloody Mary” three times. Bloody Mary – a woman – appears behind you or in the mirror wearing all white. She was supposedly lonely from what I heard, some versions even involving her friends pranking her and she dying in the bathroom, but the folklore says she tells you the future.

I was scared and weirdly intrigued when I heard it for the first time. We talked about it and concluded that it was stupid even to try. But, I know that all of our inexperienced hearts were beating a little faster with excitement.

As I grew up, though, the magic of the story, the creepiness which was up there with the Ouija board for me, was lost. I learned how our brain gets bored – when doing nothing and/or when staring at one place – and conjures up images. 

The Taste

Honestly, I have tried Bloody Mary just twice in my life. I don’t even know if I know enough to be talking about it or the taste of it. My first time was on my best friend’s birthday a little over a year ago. It was my first time trying any cocktail, period. 

I ordered a Cosmopolitan because my dreamy self was going to be a writer and eventually an editor when I grew up (I was in the last year of my engineering degree, mind you). Cosmopolitan is the pretentious drink that everyone has to seem classy, or so I thought, so I wanted that to be my first. 

I actually wanted a Martini, to be honest, with the olives and all (It was even more pretentious and boss lady drink, in my inexperienced opinion), but my friend said it would be stronger than Cosmopolitan, so I listened. 

I made him order a Bloody Mary because I wanted to try it but didn’t want to commit to finishing the drink in its entirety. This was because when I was 16, I had read the ingredients that went into the making of this interesting cocktail in a magazine, and I thought tomato juice and alcohol was weird. (Who knew Whiskey Sour was going to become my favorite drink, in which there’s egg white with Whiskey and lemon, how the times change!)

I took a few sips, tasted tomato juice, and didn’t like it, but I didn’t hate it either. The reason was that my BFF hadn’t stirred the drink properly, so the vodka was apparently stronger in the last few sips. (I liked my Cosmo if you are curious)

Fast forward to this weekend, I finally ordered it again because I had tried almost all the cocktails on the list in the place I was in. It came in, I took a few pictures (the one attached to this post) and took a few sips. Boy, did it taste exactly like soup! I was so disappointed because I had a Whiskey Sour before it, but they didn’t have the egg, yet it was too sweet. So, this built on the existing disappointment.

To add to it, the salt on the rim of the glass made my lips burn (Guess who forget that their lips were cracking because of winter – dumb old ME!). And to top the disaster, the spicey aftertaste it had made my throat burn. So, all I experienced was my lips burning from salt, disappointingly sweet soupy taste (not even the tasty version of tomato soup), and my throat burning from spices.

Final Thoughts

I don’t know if I am going to try the drink again in some other place. Third time’s the charm? Maybe so! I most probably will.

If you have tried the drink, let me know how it tastes and what should I be looking for. Or if it is exactly like the one I had, in general, and I just don’t have a taste for it. Whatever the reason, I will still be trying it one more time because it gives me interesting stories to share with you guys.