No. 43Tequila & Mezcal
Pickle Bloody Maria
Bloody Mary's tequila cousin, spiked with brine and heat.
A Pickle Bloody Maria is a Bloody Mary made with tequila instead of vodka and a generous pour of dill pickle brine. Tomato juice, lime, horseradish, Worcestershire and hot sauce make it savory and peppery. It is the brunch pick of the tequila menu, finished with a half chili-lime rim and a pickle spear.
21+Updated
Brine3/53 of 5
Heat2/52 of 5
StrengthMedium
- Glass
- pint glass
- Method
- Built in the glass
- Time
- 4 min
- Makes
- 1 drink
Ingredients
Make it for
Units
Amounts for 1, in ounces.
- 2 lime wedges (1 for the rim, 1 for garnish)
- 1 tbsp chili-lime seasoning (such as Tajín, for the rim)
- 1½ oz blanco tequila
- 4 oz tomato juice (chilled)
- 1 oz dill pickle brine (chilled)
- ½ oz fresh lime juice (about half a lime)
- ½ tsp prepared horseradish
- 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 3 dashes hot sauce (such as Valentina or Cholula)
- 1 pinch black pepper (freshly ground)
- 1 pinch celery salt (only if it needs it after tasting) optional
- 1 dill pickle spear (for garnish)
- 1 celery stalk (for garnish)
- Glass
- pint glass
- Rim
- chili-lime
- Garnish
- pickle spear, celery stalk and lime wedge
How to make it
- Run a lime wedge around half the rim of a pint glass and dip it in chili-lime seasoning.
- Fill the glass with ice.
- Add the tequila, tomato juice, brine and lime juice.
- Add the horseradish, Worcestershire, hot sauce and pepper.
- Stir well until the outside of the glass feels cold.
- Taste, then add a pinch of celery salt only if it needs it.
- Garnish with a pickle spear, a celery stalk and the other lime wedge.
Bar tips
- Use low-sodium tomato juice if you can find it: the brine, rim, Worcestershire and hot sauce already bring plenty of salt.
- For a silkier texture, roll it: mix everything in a shaker tin with ice, pour it back and forth into a second tin a few times, then strain over fresh ice. Shaking makes tomato juice foamy.
- Chill the tomato juice and brine ahead of time so the ice melts slower.
Make it your own
- Use mezcal in place of tequila for a smoky brunch Maria.
- Swap the tomato juice for clam-tomato juice (such as Clamato) and cut the brine to 0.5 oz for a Caesar-style Maria.
Drink responsibly. This one is for adults of legal drinking age. Want it without the booze? The zero-proof drinks are just as briny.
Full recipe: dillin.org/recipes/pickle-bloody-maria
