Bloody Caesar

The Caesar or Bloody Caesar was invented in Alberta, Canada by a bartender named Walter Chell. It was the popular signature drink of his Italian restaurant when it opened and became extremely popular in Canada.

Canadians love their clam broth and their spicy cocktails (see Canadian Dog's Nose), so it makes sense that this drink is a clammy Bloody Mary variation. They prefer Clamato for its combination of tomato and clam juices. The other interesting thing is the rimming of the glass with celery salt and the addition of celery seeds in the drink. This makes the drink very fragrant.

To make the celery salt rim, put three tablespoons of kosher salt and three of celery seed in a shallow dish or bowl and combine them evenly by stirring. Wet the rim of the glass with the cut side of a lemon or lime and press the wet rim into the salt mixture. Then follow these steps for a single serving Caesar.

• 2 oz. vodka
• 6 oz. Clamato
• 2 dashes hot sauce
• 4 dashes Worchestershire sauce
• lime wedge
• celery salt
• celery stalk

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and pour into a highball glass rimmed with celery salt. Garnish with celery and lime wedge. 

Red Snapper

So if you start with a Bloody Mary and just leave out the spiciest stuff like Tabasco sauce, celery salt and horseradish, you pretty much have the Red Snapper. This is a very tomato-forward drink and as such it feels a little thicker on the palate. There's no lime juice, either, just a dash of lemon juice. So really this is an alcoholic tomato puree drink with a pinch of paprika--not that there's anything wrong with that.

The important thing is that this is a branch of the Bloody Mary family tree that includes the celery rib, like the Bloody Caesar. To do the drink correctly you must include it, if only to distinguish which type of Bloody Mary the Red Snapper is.

• 2 oz. vodka
• 3 oz. tomato juice
• 3-5 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• salt to taste
• freshly ground black pepper to taste
• cayenne pepper to taste
• dash lemon juice
• celery rib

Combine all ingredients except celery rib in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled highball glass (with optional salt rim as shown.) Garnish with the celery stalk.

Bloody Maria

It goes without saying that a simple Bloody Mary recipe made with tequila is pretty damn good. This recipe only varies in one other way, the addition of cilantro. It's great and a little more exotic for this most complicated of all cocktails.

• 2 oz. white tequila (Sauza Blanco used)
• 4 oz. tomato juice
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 1 tsp. horseradish
• Tabasco sauce to taste
• 3-5 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• ground pepper to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• pinch of cilantro
• lime wedge

Combine all ingredients except lime wedge in a shaker with ice. Shake pour into a highball glass. Garnish with lime slice. (Note: there's no celery or salt rim in the recipe but I include them because of preference. Celery is only a requirement of the Bloody Caesar, a Canadian Bloody Mary variation.)