I happen to be a Bloody Mary’s aficionado; late Sunday afternoon is Bloody Mary time! I believe that (for myself anyway) that I have come up with the perfect Bloody Mary! There are some definite No No's that will ruin a Bloody Mary! You have to have Good Vodka, now you can pay a ton for good Vodka but in my opinion Titos is great Vodka at a reasonable price. But even more important than the vodka is the mix.

But this post is about the mix and how I make a years’ worth in one shot!

Every year we make about 30 quarts of Bloody Mary Mix or it would be spicy tomato juice if you are not into Bloody Mary’s. It's not a very difficult juice to make but it is very time consuming, you will need to set aside time on two consecutive days. The tomato juice you buy in the store is made from the scraps of tomato leftover from other items like tomato soup or stewed tomatoes. We care a little more and use whole tomatoes in our recipe.

The ingredients:

80lbs of tomatoes – use a mix of different types, cherry, plumb, beefsteak & heirloom. Stemmed and cut in ¼’s
10 Large Bell Peppers
10 Large onion
2lbs of carrots
10 stalks of celery
10 cloves of garlic
As many hot peppers as you can stand!
½ Cup of salt
¼ cup of pepper
¼ cup of Spanish paprika
1 cup of white vinegar per per 20 to 23 quart pot
A large bunch of cilantro
1 Tbls of lemon juice added to each quart to be processed

This will produce 25 to 30 quarts

Lots of work to do so let’s get started…….

I start with two 23 quart pots I fill the posts with the tomatoes and 1 cup of vinegar each and add the seasonings half in each pot. Fill with filtered water, no chlorine!

Turn heat on low, you don’t want to burn the tomatoes and let the mix heat slowly string every five minutes or so.While the pots are heating cut up the vegetables in 3” hunks and separate into two bowls.

Don’t worry about the seeds just remove the stems and chunk, those seeds add a lot flavor!

Once the pot start heating they will reduce and give you enough room to add the vegetables. Continue heating until the vegetables start to soften. Once softened remove from heat and refrigerate overnight.Get up early the next day and put the pots back on low heat (before you go out to do your chores!) it will take at least an hour for the pot to reheat, it is important to do it slowly, don’t burn the bottom, it will ruin it and all your work so far will be for nothing……

After the mixture reaches a temp of 180 to 200 degrees remove from heat. I use a hand-held strainer to separate the juice from the pulp. I put two scoops of pulp in the strainer and gently press the juice out then transfer the pulp to a large bowl.

After you have pressed the mix in both pots, clean them and place the juice in one and the pulp in the other. Fill the pot with the pulp with filtered water and return to the heat, remember don’t let it burn!

You may want to add some additional seasonings and don’t forget the cup of vinegar.Now take a cup or two of the juice out and cool it. Then taste. I like mine spicy so I don’t need to add hot sauce later.

You need to be looking for the flavor profile you want, now is the time to tweak the juice to your liking…….

Once the pot with the pulp has reached 180 to 200 degrees remove from heat and repeat the straining process described above. Now you can repeat the process one more time, that’s up to you, but remember you lose some flavor every time you repeat.Blend the new juice with the old juice and repeat the cooling and taste testing process.Reheat the juice slowly until it reaches 180 degrees.Remove from heat place in quart jars with half inch head space. Add 1 Tbls of Lemon juice, caps and rings process in a rolling boil water bath for 45 minutes, remove form bath and let cool. Store in a dark cool area. Juice is best if used within two years.