The Secret Recipe For The Best Bloody Mary Cocktail In London
By Verity Nelson (26 Nov 13)
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Hosted by the elegant and illustrious Boisdale of Canary Wharf restaurant, the event was a celebration of all things tomato (juice) based. Eight competitors from different bars around London each gave a small tutorial that explained their secret to making the perfect Bloody Mary.
Bartenders from Los Angeles, Italy, Ukraine and London showed what made their Bloody Mary so unique ensuring that no two cocktails tasted the same.
The prize for the winning Bloody Mary was £500 and the kudos of knowing that their cocktail was named the best in London, by many a Bloody Mary expert.
The bar tenders taking part in the competition included Bystrik Uko from Bassoon Bar at The Corinthia, Ernest Reid from Boisdale of Canary Wharf, Adam McGurk from Hawksmoor, Filippo Previero from Mr Fogg's, BC Hoffman from Nola, Thom Solberg from Shoreditch House and independent bartenders Eitvydas Balcius and Stuart Hudson.
In the end, and beating some truly original and inventive cocktails, the winner was Adam McGurk of Hawksmoor whose ‘less is more' approach (pictured above) and good stirring technique proved extremely popular with the judges.
The recipe for Adam's winning Bloody Mary cocktail was a blend of Worcester sauce, salt, pepper, seven secret spices (he wouldn't divulge) and lemon juice, garnished with celery and cherry tomato, all combining to give the cocktail a clean but spicy kick and a simple, sophisticated look.
As a member of the judging panel, I took great pleasure in watching these masters at work and, of course, getting to sample each wonderful variation. I never want to drink a poorly made vodka and tomato juice drink disguised as a Bloody Mary (prevalent in many a pub or bar in London) ever again.
Here's a video of the bar tenders presenting their drinks at Boisdale on the day.
Which bar were you in when you had the best Bloody Mary in London? We want to hear opinions and suggestions so share them in the Facebook comment field below.
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