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Over Labor Day weekend – after making our family’s recipe for homemade tomato juice – we got together with some neighborhood friends for a barbecue and kid’s sleepover.
Jack decided to make a cocktail – this Nautical Mary – using our fresh homemade tomato juice, clam juice and vodka along with some other ingredients for our party!
This cocktail was inspired by a recipe originally published in The New American Bartender’s Guide
by John Poister – and we stayed pretty true to the original recipe. He named it the Nautical Mary – a different twist on a traditional Bloody Mary – but with clam juice added! (*See additional note below this post.)
It’s a fantastic drink – sort of like ‘garden meets ocean’ – and it’s really quite tasty!
As the night with our neighbors wore on – the grown-ups sat around our backyard fire pit, talking and laughing and enjoying our cocktails! We started brainstorming different names for this drink – such as ‘The Ipswich Mary’ (inspired by Ipswich, Massachusetts which is known for some of the best clams in the world!), the ‘Naughty Mary’ and the ‘Cape Cod Clam Shot’ – but by the end of the night, we decided to just stay with the original name given to this drink to give its creator, Mr. Poister, his proper kudos.
*Since publishing this recipe, a reader wrote in to let us know that a version of this drink, called the Bloody Caesar, originated in Canada is very popular in that country. Wikipedia tells more of the back-story behind the creation of the Bloody Caesar cocktail right here.
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Nautical Mary
Ingredients
- 3 ounces fresh tomato juice chilled (see our homemade tomato juice recipe here)
- 2 ounces good-quality vodka, chilled
- 2 ounces bottled clam juice, chilled
- 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
- 1 dash Tabasco sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon horseradish
- Crushed ice
- Lemon twist
- Celery stick
- Cherry and Sunglow tomatoes, skewered onto decorative picks for garnish
Instructions
- Place tomato juice, vodka, clam juice, Worcestershire sauce, Tabasco sauce, lemon juice and horseradish in a shaker, shake and pour over crushed ice.
- Top with a lemon twist and serve with a celery stick, tomatoes skewered and a straw.
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I must say, the name of this drink kind of pulled me in this time. Love the name! And the recipe, its perfect for this time of year. Thanks for sharing, and love the pictures as well. 🙂
Thanks Marty! It is perfect for this time of year for sure!
I love the extra flavor that the clam juice brings to this. Thanks for sharing.
Try using tequila instead of the vodka. It really adds to the flavor profile.
Thanks for the suggestion Rick! Will do!
Your beautiful photos have me pinning this one to try this weekend. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
Thank you so much Lea Ann! (Hope you enjoy it!)
This is the national drink of Canada – we call it a Bloody Caesar and have for decades! We have a premade clam-tomato juice called Clamato (I’ve seen it here and there in the US but it’s definitely a Canadian phenomenon).
Hi Kiara! Thank you so much for writing to us! I haven’t heard of a Bloody Caesar before! I’m going to add a note to the bottom of our post with a link to Wikipedia which gives a great back-story to the origin of the Bloody Caesar. Thanks again for writing to us with more information!
Hi Kiara and Martha,
The first time I had a bloodly Caesar was in Toronto many years ago. I have been serving them ever since. You can buy “Clamato” juice in most grocery stores in Massachusetts. The recipe used to be on the bottle of Clamato but not anymore.
BLOODY CAESAR
Taste the savory Clamato® Bloody Caesar. One of our original recipes.
Ingredients
4 oz of Clamato® Tomato Cocktail
1 oz of Vodka
4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
2 dashes of hot sauce
3 dashes of Kosher salt & pepper
1 fresh celery stick
1 lime wedge to garnish
Directions
Rim a glass with lime, Kosher salt and chili powder. Fill the glass with ice and add ingredients. Mix the ingredients thoroughly, then garnish with a fresh celery stick and lime wedge and enjoy!
Thanks Charlene!