Building Your Bloody Mary Bar

It’s the zesty, savory drink to rule them all. And when you build your own bloody mary bar, it allows guests to go the classic route or build a gravitydefying drink with all the garnishes. Either way, they’ll all be thinking there’s something about your bloody marys.

Make Your Bloody Mary Mix

Consider varying your bloody mary ingredients and making two options, one more mild and one with a kick. Guests can then go wild with the garnishes. Also, try making your mix the night before so the bloody mary ingredients can mix and mingle.

Bloody Mary Recipes

In a large pitcher, stir together the tomato juice, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, garlic salt, black pepper and hot sauce. Mix the celery salt and kosher salt, then wet the rims of your glasses and dip them in the mixture. Fill your glasses with ice. Let guests add the vodka, bloody mary mix and garnishes.

Or, we have a few recipes to take you all the way from mix to garnish. Our Bloody Mary with Shrimp makes fresh seafood part of your party sipper. The Craft Beer Bloody Mary offers a modern take on this yummy drink, retiring vodka for next weekend’s brunch. And this Bloody Mary adds barbecue sauce and beef sticks for a deliciously hearty beverage.

Give Them All the Bloody Mary Garnishes

This is the fun part. Set up lots of bowls with options for loading up drinks and altering the spice levels and flavors. You can even whip up premade skewers with tasty garnish combos for those who might have a hard time committing to their bloody mary ingredients. And for some, a bloody mary may just end up being their entire meal (a fine choice, if you ask us). Here's a list of delish bloody mary garnishes to get you started (remember though, sky’s the limit).

Bloody Mary Bar Odds & Ends

There’s a lot going on when you make a bloody mary bar (so worth it), but these tips can make serving up and storing this drink easy.

1. Use pitchers, carafes or drink dispensers to make refills quick and easy.
2. Separate skewers and garnishes into containers such as Mason jars (sometimes small bowls simply aren’t enough real estate to house the bigger bloody mary ingredients).
3. Keep garnishes cold by serving them on a platter set over a tray of ice.
4. Serve warm ingredients in a slow cooker.
5. Be sure to have resealable bags and to-go containers for any leftovers.

You’ve now got everything you need to build bloody marys that bring all the guests to the bar. We’re raising a glass and rooting for you over here.