The Proper Morning Bar

We all know that getting into the vodka bottle early in the morning is not the best idea. But if friends are trying to push through the ramifications of the night before, it’s sometimes necessary, if not prudent. The rule at LPB 🐟  is that if  you’re going to kick-start some day-drinking, you must do it with the right ingredients. We also offer the fresh orange juice and Bloody Mary mix without the vodka, so those who are of a sane mind can decide, if any, their level of alcohol consumption at 11 AM.

The first Bloody Mary, called the Red Snapper, was made at one of my favorite hotels in New York, the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis.  The bartender was kind enough to share their recipe with me. I’ve made some changes to it over time, like adding prepared horseradish, replacing tomato juice with V-8 and other spices.

Ingredients 

• Vodka to taste, but do not mix in, let the guests decide
• Bloody Mary mix
  • Juice of three lemons
  • 2 1/2 liters of V-8 juice
  • 5 oz of Worcestershire sauce
  • 10 dashes of tobasco
  • 2 tablespoons Lawry’s seasoned pepper
  • 2 tablespoons of cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon celery seeds
  • 2 tablespoons of prepared horseradish
  • Salte to taste but V-8 is packed with sodium
• Cut lemons
• Garnish
  • Thickly sliced bacon
  • Blackened shrimp
  • Celery
  • Greek peperoncini
• Orange juice as an alternative to the Bloody Mary
• Soda water
• Ice cubes

Making It

• Set the oven to 400 degrees and lay out the bacon on parchment paper, cook for 15-20 minutes until crisp, dry on paper towels
• Mix the lemon juice, V-8, Worcestershire, Tobasco, Lawry’s, cayenne, celery seeds, horseradish and mix.  Salt taste.  Put in a pitcher or serving container.  Do the same with the orange juice.
• Set up the table with an ice bucket, bowls with garnishes, so people can select what they want in their drink