The only thing better than having a bloody mary to cure a hangover, is having several.
This weekend’s DC Bloody Mary Fest was the ultimate Sunday Funday. Hosted in the awesome space that is Blind Whino, twelve area restaurants served up their most creative, best selling bloodys.
Each festival-goer was given a token upon entering, which was to be used to vote for their favorite of the bloody mary offerings. So, naturally, we dove in head first and grabbed as many bloodys as we could get our hands on (which surprisingly, were a lot). Here are some highlights:
- La Jambe’s green juice bloody Mary. This drink was light, refreshing… and green! While it wasn’t what you typically think of, both in taste and color, when you think of a bloody mary, it was hands down our favorite and the winner of our “best-in-class” vote. La Jambe’s creative bloody is conjured up from a green tomatillo base, with cucumber, spinach, and a heavy infusion of lime. It was garnished with a bacon wrapped jalapeno. A small touch that took it from great, to perfection.
- Duffy’s got points for both taste and presentation, because BONUS: this bloody came topped with a chicken wing. The drink itself was more traditional, and probably could’ve used a little more spice, but any bloody that includes snacks is a winner in our eyes.
- Another favorite was the bloody by Rito Loco that came garnished with a tortilla chip and Mexican lollipop. Again, we like drinks with snacks in them… This one was heavily seasoned, both on the rim of the cup and in the cocktail itself. It was chock full of pepper and garlic, but really delicious.
- Bloody by Range was one of our favorites because of its unique flavor, but we agreed it would only be enjoyable if consumed in a small quantity because it is so distinct. Light in color but heavy on the herb undertones, this beverage was topped with a cracker which was then topped with cheese.
- Wolfgang Puck’s bloody mary was the most outlandish of the bunch, because it came garnished with a rabbit meat dumpling, and the bloody itself was mixed with rabbit stew. Not our cup of tea, but it was intruiging and impressive to watch the dumpling operation take place behind the scenes.
- Hanks Oyster Bar‘s bloody Mary seemed to carry a lot of good buzz with it. It was one of the most easy drinking bloodies we tasted and the crowd seemed to agree. When we would ask random people about which was their favorite they almost always chose this one, and for good reason. It was smooth and a perfect balance of flavor and spices.
Cheers to bloody marys, in every way, shape and form!
