If anyone knows Bloody Mary’s it’s us.

But we do hear people ask: Can you make a bloody mary with gin?

The Answer: YES!

Before you get all traditional, yes we know that a classic Bloody Mary packs its punch with Vodka. And while we’re all for tradition, the ultimate goal of Stu’s is to help you to create the perfect Bloody Mary. Period.

So that means that we experiment with all ingredients in order to offer you opportunities to make your cocktail exactly to your own liking.

Some people don’t actually like the combination of vodka and tomato juice.

Some folks even claim that vodka adds only two things to a drink: volume and alcohol. In other words, because vodka is flavorless, it doesn’t add any flavor to your cocktail. But the same time because vodka adds volume, it’s diluting the flavor of all of the other bloody mary ingredients.

If only there was a spirit that does has flavors that can actually complement the spiciness of the other ingredients.

Bloody Mary With Gin

Also known as The Red Snapper, this is gin’s version of the Bloody Mary.

The botanicals and spices of gin stand up against the acidity of tomato juice in an entirely different way than vodka does.

The botanicals really accentuate the spices, mix, and tomatoes incredibly well.

This is a drink that was specifically designed with Sunday brunch in mind.

Next time you’re feeling the fatigue wrought by too much fun from the night before, order up a Bloody Mary with Gin, Red Snapper and be sure to cast aspersions at the Bloody Mary crew.

Just like the Bloody Mary, the Red Snapper is a very personal drink. It can be adapted and molded to your specific taste.

Red Snapper Primary Ingredients

• Gin
• Tomato Juice
• Spices / Mix

The History of the Bloody Mary with Gin

The Red Snapper’s origins start in a bar called The New Yorker sometime during the 1920s when French barman extraordinaire Fernand “Pete” Petiot left Harry’s Bar in Paris for the King Cole Room at the St. Regis Hotel in NYC.

At Harry’s in Paris, Petiot was famed for a tomato juice and vodka drink that was named the Bloody Mary after a customer.

When Petiot came to NYC he brought the drink recipe with him, but was forced to swap out the vodka for Gin. (At that time vodka was hard to come by in the U.S.

His new employer, then the Astor family, which owned the St. Regis, was way too fancy for a drink named the Bloody Mary…So the Red Snapper was born.

One of the first notings of the Red Snapper comes from Crosby Gaige’s Cocktail Guide and Ladies Companion (1941), but this recipe still uses vodka as its liquor.

It wasn’t until the start of the 1960s, in The London Magazine (Volume 2, 1962 edition). that the recipe for a Red Snapper, the Bloody Mary made with gin version was first published.

Note: The St Regis King Cole Bar’s signature cocktail remains The Bloody Mary to this very day, it’s name changed back to the original moniker given to it by Petiot.

The Red Snapper, by this point, had been carving its own name with gin at the helm and so a name divide stuck – a Bloody Mary for vodka fans and a Red Snapper for gin drinkers.

Bloody Mary With Gin Recipes

Obviously if the breakfast joint you are at has a bar, just ask your waiter/waitress to have the bar swap out vodka for a dry gin such as Beefeater in your Bloody Mary. Presto, it’s a Red Snapper.

But if you’re reading this post, or a stu’s customer then you’re a social butterfly who enkoys making good drinks at home.

Here are three Bloody Mary with Gin recipes for you that are jaw-droppingly good.

How we like to make a Red Snapper:

• 1 oz Gin
• 4 oz tomato juice
• 1/2 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz Stu’s Bloody Mary Mix – Classic
• 2 pinches celery salt

Use celery salt and pepper to rim your cocktail glass (preferably a Collins).

Add your bloody mary with gin ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice.

Stir.

Strain into your glass.

Add half a celery stick.to garnish

Original Red Snapper Recipe:

• 4 oz. tomato juice
• 2 oz. Gin
• 1 oz Stu’s Bloody Mary Mix – Classic
• 1 dash of fresh lemon juice

Add your bloody mary with gin ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice.

Stir.

Strain into your glass.

Add half a celery stick.to garnish
Shake well with ice and serve in a Delmonico glass

Gin is absolutely pure class-in-a-glass, and hey, so are you so enjoy.