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Drink This: A Bloody Mary Worthy of the Best Tailgate Parties

There’s nothing better than a good Bloody Mary on a Saturday or Sunday morning, while you are tailgating with your buddies before your favorite team’s game. Not only does it clear out the previous night’s cobwebs, it starts the day off on a decidedly right note. Plus, it’s full of vegetables. Who can argue with vegetables? It’s practically a health drink!

In fact, the only thing that can possibly top a Bloody Mary is a big plate of bacon to wash down. Since bacon’s popularity has skyrocketed in the past few years, we wanted to do one better by sharing our recipe for a Bacon Bloody Mary. This carnivorous cocktail is sure to quench your thirst while also taking care of your lunch plans.

The key to a Bacon Bloody Mary is, of course, bacon-flavored vodka. Bakon Vodka is a high-quality potato vodka with an essence of savory peppered bacon. However, it’s simple to make your own bacon vodka — just add four or five strips of bacon to a bottle of your favorite quality vodka and let it marinate for a week.

Add 1½ to 2 ounces of your bacon vodka to a glass and fill the rest with tomato juice. If you own a juicer, grab a few tomatoes from the farmers’ market and toss in a little salt; don’t forget to strain out the seeds. If you don’t have a juicer, tomato juice works just fine; V8 works in an emergency. Bloody Mary mixes do not work, as they tend to be too sweet for a true Bloody Mary, not to mention they take all the fun out of the process.

If you like it spicy, add a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce and Sriracha, a little horseradish, a little lemon juice, and a little pepper — it’s an art, not a science, so play with it (this might mean you have to make multiple batches — ah, the sacrifices we make for our art). Put it all in a shaker, shake until everything is evenly distributed and serve over ice in a salt-rimmed pint glass.

The true art comes in the garnishes. Make it a BLT by adding a celery stalk, a slice of tomato, pickled vegetables and a slice of bacon as a stir strip.

Got a better drink and/or breakfast meat for your pre-game festivities? Share your recipe with us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.