No. 60Briny Without Booze
Pickle Virgin Mary
All the Bloody Mary, none of the vodka. Pickles make it better.
The Pickle Virgin Mary is a booze-free Bloody Mary made with tomato juice, dill pickle brine, lemon, horseradish, Worcestershire and hot sauce, poured over ice in a celery-salt rimmed glass. It is savory, tangy and gently spicy, with a full ounce of brine standing in for the vodka's bite. Garnish it like a snack with a pickle spear and celery.
Zero proofUpdated
- Glass
- highball glass
- Method
- Stirred
- Time
- 4 min
- Makes
- 1 drink
Ingredients
Amounts for 1, in ounces.
- 5 oz tomato juice (chilled, low-sodium if you can find it)
- 1 oz dill pickle brine (chilled, from the jar)
- ½ oz fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp prepared horseradish
- 2 dashes Worcestershire sauce
- 2 dashes hot sauce (Tabasco-style)
- 1 pinch black pepper (freshly ground)
- celery salt (for the rim)
- 1 lemon wedge (for wetting the rim)
- 1 dill pickle spear (for garnish)
- 1 celery stalk (for garnish)
- 1 sprig fresh dill (for garnish) optional
- Glass
- highball glass
- Rim
- celery salt
- Garnish
- celery stalk, pickle spear and dill sprig
How to make it
- Run the lemon wedge around the rim of a highball glass and dip it in celery salt.
- Fill the glass with ice.
- Add the tomato juice, pickle brine, lemon juice, horseradish, Worcestershire, hot sauce and pepper to a mixing glass with ice.
- Stir for about 15 seconds to chill it and work the horseradish through.
- Strain into the prepared glass.
- Garnish with the pickle spear, celery stalk and dill sprig.
Bar tips
- Regular tomato juice, an ounce of brine and a salted rim add up fast. Low-sodium juice lets the brine do the seasoning, so taste before you add any extra salt.
- Worcestershire sauce usually contains anchovies, so use a vegan Worcestershire if you are serving vegetarians.
- Mix a pitcher without ice up to two days ahead and keep it in the fridge. Stir before pouring, because the horseradish settles.
Make it your own
- Use clam-tomato juice instead of tomato juice for a zero-proof take on Canada's Caesar.
- Use the brine from spicy dills, or add 2 more dashes of hot sauce, for extra heat.
Bar lore
In 1964, St. Regis Hotel bartender Fernand Petiot told The New Yorker that the Bloody Mary was just vodka and tomato juice when he took it over, and that he seasoned it with salt, black and cayenne pepper, Worcestershire and lemon. Drop the vodka and you have a Virgin Mary.
Zero proof, full brine. No spirits, wine or beer in this one. If you need 0.0%, check the labels on any non-alcoholic bottles you use.
Full recipe: dillin.org/recipes/pickle-virgin-mary
