By Rebecca Harris
The Bloody Mary cocktail — a mixture of vodka, tomato juice, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce — celebrated its 75th birthday on Monday (December 1), with a toast held at its birthplace of Times Square, New York City.
Said to have been created in Manhattan in 1933, the cocktail was once called the Red Snapper because use of the word ‘bloody’ was considered too crass.
It was originally comprised of half tomato juice and half vodka, with the addition of a celery stick and spices not added until the 1960s.
Contemporary versions contain between 30 and 50ml of vodka, or in the case of a Virgin Mary, no vodka at all.
Monday’s toast marks the beginning of a year-long celebration in the cocktail’s honour, with many venues in NYC winding back the price of the Bloody Mary to just 99 US cents, to reflect its price in 1933.