The Bloody Mary has been on my mind a lot this year. For some reason, the classic tomato juice and vodka-based cocktail has been making a bit of a comeback this year. I’ve tasted quite a few versions of it in the past months in different bars, both local and international.
And this all culminated with the “10 Expressions Of Bloody Mary” menu that is currently available at Astor Bar, St Regis Kuala Lumpur.
But first things first – what is a Bloody Mary?
The official International Bartenders’ Association recipe calls for 45ml vodka, 90ml tomato juice, 15ml fresh lemon juice, two dashes Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco, celery salt, and pepper to taste.
However, ask any bartender and they probably would have their own version of the Bloody Mary. Some might swap out the vodka for another spirit (for instance, change the vodka to tequila, and it’s a Bloody Maria), others might substitute the Tabasco with another spicy element, while some might even use soy sauce in place of the Worcestershire Sauce.
The origin of the cocktail is a little confusing. Some attribute it to French bartender Fernand “Pete” Petiot, while others credit comedian George Jessel with creating it as a hangover cure in 1939, at the 21 Club where he was a regular in.
Simon Difford of Difford’s Guide, however, reckons that while Jessel may have been the one who created a ‘half-vodka, half tomato juice’ precursor to the drink, it was Petiot who refined it into the modern Bloody Mary that we see today.
According to his extensive History Of the Bloody Mary article, Petiot gave Jessel’s drink a “much-needed makeover”.
“He modified the proportions, added citrus and herbs, spices and savoury notes ... he took an existing recipe and made it his own,” writes Difford.
At the time, Petiot was working at the St Regis hotel in New York, and it was there that the Bloody Mary achieved its legendary status, to the extent that, today, almost every St Regis hotel around the world serves its own local interpretation of the cocktail at its bar.
The St Regis KL is no exception – Astor Bar’s Asam Boi Mary is as Malaysian as it gets, a heady concoction of asam boi-infused vodka, tomato juice, calamansi, Sarawak black pepper, paprika, chill padi and tabasco.
And that’s not the only Bloody Mary twist you can taste at Astor Bar right now. The bar is currently running a special “10 Expressions of Bloody Mary” menu for its 10th anniversary, featuring variants from 10 different St Regis hotels around the world.
It was interesting to see just how each country interpreted the cocktail to fit their own national identity.
The South East Asian countries dialled up the spiciness – St Regis Bangkok’s Siam Mary by using Thai chilli and wasabi, and St Regis Singapore with cili padi and ginger.
Others swapped the vodka for something totally unexpected – St Regis Florence’s (Italy) Bloody Brunello used grappa to give their Bloody Mary a grassy, funky note; while St Regis Beijing’s (China) Great Wall Mary used beer as its base, combining it with a Bloody Mary mix and pairing it with an oyster shooter.
My favourites from the menu, however, has to be the Hibiscus Mary from St Regis Cairo (Egypt), which used hibiscus-infused vodka, and tobacco sauce to give it a lovely floral yet smoky note that went well with the tomato juice; and the Lang Mary from St Regis Langkawi, which was a nicely balanced drink with pandan, lemongrass, and tamarind elements.
The 10 Expressions of Bloody Mary menu will be available until October, so you have a few more months to go and taste just how wildly the Bloody Mary can be twisted, all in a single bar!
Michael Cheang prefers a Bloody Mary that isn’t too spicy. Follow him on Instagram (@mytipsyturvy) and Facebook (fb.com/mytipsyturvy).
