The bloody mary is an iconic savory drink, most found during boozy brunches or, ironically, used as a hangover cure. The classic recipe includes a standard combination of vodka with a mixer of tomato juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tobasco or hot sauce, lemon juice, horseradish, salt, pepper, and celery salt. Some bloody mary recipes exclude horseradish or certain spices, but it’s all up to preference. Like any premade cocktail mixer, the convenience of adding alcohol without the grueling process of making your own base is reason enough to buy it. Bloody marys are no exception to this but some are best left on store shelves. So, Tasting Table decided to try 21 bloody mary mixers to see which should be avoided.
Following a taste test, we found Toma’s to be packed with savory and spicy flavors, taking our number one spot. Meanwhile, V8, the popular juice brand that aims to pack its drinks with eight vegetables for nutrition and fiber, failed to deliver. In its mix, there was simply not enough flavor or spice, and it tasted more like a jar of tomato juice than a powerful bloody mary.
Why V8 missed the mark
V8, which is now owned by Campbell’s, was founded in 1933 by William Gilbert Peacock in hopes of providing affordable nutrition during the Great Depression. Its popular items include its standard V8 juice and lineup of fruit and vegetable juice mixes, with flavors like strawberry and banana, green juice, pomegranate blueberry, and peach mango.
For a successful bloody mary, there needs to be more than a simple tomato base. Even the addition of hot sauce or Tobasco will amp up the drink further. Here at Tasting Table, we noticed that to make V8’s mix work, you would need other additions to crank up the uniqueness of the drink’s flavor. This would defeat the whole purpose of buying a premade mix, so it’s better to skip this one altogether.
Unfortunately for V8, it seems like its bloody mary mix wanted to completely ignore that extra punch of salt and additional flavor, and for that, we had to rank it low. Although disappointing, the brand’s other products seem to be a hit, so if they can muster up some changes to its bloody mary mix, V8 can solidify itself as a stronger cocktail mix competitor.
