It's 9 AM, kickoff is at noon, and the beer can wait an hour. Set a pitcher of Bloody Marys in a long tub of ice with the garnishes around it and let everyone build their own, so nobody tends bar. Stir the base two days out, add the vodka the night before, and at the lot it's ten minutes to set up.
The short answer: 12 people, 2 to 3 drinks each, two jugs, 36 pours. Each jug is 64 oz Clamato, 4½ cups vodka, ½ cup lemon juice, ¼ cup each Worcestershire and pickle juice, 1 tbsp hot sauce, celery salt and pepper, chilled overnight. Clamato already has the salt and body; tomato juice needs doctoring.
How we pour it
- Clamato is the base. No horseradish.
- The vodka goes in the jug: 2 oz a pour.
- Pickled asparagus goes in first.
- A High Life pony sits beside the first one.
21 and over. Line up a sober driver and check your lot's open-container rule in your stadium guide. We don't sell alcohol; the vodka is yours to bring.
Jump to: Asparagus · Board · Setup · What to buy · Recipe
Start with the pickled asparagus
A proper Bloody Mary comes with a pickled asparagus spear standing in it. That's how it's poured across the Pacific Northwest, and in eastern Washington, where the asparagus grows, nobody asks for anything else. Celery and pickled green beans are what the rest of the country reaches for. In the Northwest, buy Foster's out of Pasco; everywhere else, Tillen Farms in the pickle aisle at Walmart and Target. We sell the Amish Country Store jar (Old-Fashioned; Jalapeño and Zesty if you want heat).
The spear is crisp, sour and a little garlicky, it soaks up the drink from the bottom of the cup, and the last bite is the best one. Put the jar front and center and plan on a spear for every drink and a second in the first round: 48 spears for 12, four 16 oz jars at about 12 spears a jar. Save the brine for the add-ins station.
Bloody Mary bar ideas: the garnish board
Bring the first tier every time; add the second with 15 more minutes of prep; the third makes the board. Every item gets its own bowl or jar and a pick or tongs. In Wisconsin the board always has a beef stick, cheese curds and dilly beans, so the curds are a must here too.
| What | For 12 | For 24 |
|---|---|---|
| Must have | ||
| Pickled asparagus | 4 jars (16 oz) | 8 jars |
| Celery stalks, leaves on (the stir sticks) | 3 bunches | 6 bunches |
| Cheese curds | 12 oz | 24 oz |
| Stuffed olives | 1 jar (10 oz) | 2 jars |
| Dill pickle spears | 1 jar (24 oz) | 2 jars |
| Lemon and lime wedges | 3 lemons, 3 limes | 6 and 6 |
| Nice to have | ||
| Pepperoncini | 1 jar (12 oz) | 2 jars |
| Dilly beans (pickled green beans) | 1 jar (16 oz) | 2 jars |
| Pickled okra | 1 jar (16 oz) | 2 jars |
| Cocktail onions | 1 jar (7 oz) | 2 jars |
| Cheddar or pepper jack, ¾-inch cubes | 12 oz | 24 oz |
| Cherry tomatoes | 1 pint | 2 pints |
| Bacon, cooked crisp at home | 12 strips (1 lb) | 24 strips (2 lb) |
| Show-off | ||
| Cooked shrimp, peeled, tail on | 24 (1 lb) | 48 (2 lb) |
| Beef sticks, cut to cup height | 12 | 24 |
| Cream-cheese-stuffed sweet peppers | 12 | 24 |
Set up the bar
Ships in 3 boxes. Revo Party Barge Cooler ships free; about $18.88 shipping on the other 2.
-
Stu's Kitchen Classic No. 1 Bloody Mary Seasoning
$15 · +$4.99 shipping
-
SALTOPIA Black Lava Salt
$7.95 · +$9.95 shipping
The rim station
- Celery salt: 2 tbsp celery salt, 2 tbsp kosher salt. The classic.
- Seafood: 3 tbsp seafood seasoning (Old Bay), 1 tbsp kosher salt. Goes with the shrimp.
- Smoked chili: 3 tbsp smoked salt, 1 tbsp chili powder.
Run a wedge around the outside of the rim, turn the cup in the salt, tap off the loose salt, then add ice. Ice first and the salt ends up in the drink.
How to set up a Bloody Mary bar at a tailgate
Left to right, so the line moves one way. The cooler takes 44 inches of a 6-foot table, so stations 1–3 go on the tailgate or a card table.
| Station | What goes there |
|---|---|
| 1. Cups | A stack of 16 oz cups |
| 2. Rims | Three salt plates, wedges in front |
| 3. Ice | Cup-ice bucket and a scoop |
| 4. Pour | Cooler: must-have jars left bay, pitcher middle, show-off tier right |
| 5. Add-ins | Two hot sauces, the asparagus brine, a pepper grinder |
| 6. Build | Skewers, picks, napkins, pony bottles and an opener, trash bag off the end |
Print this and tape it to the table: 1. Grab a cup. 2. Rim it. 3. Ice it. 4. Pour. 5. Build it, asparagus first.
Keep it cold for 4 hours
Run the whole bar out of one long tub of ice: the Revo Party Barge, 44 inches, three insulated bays, across a tailgate. Push the jars down until the ice is halfway up; the two divided trays that come with it hold the wedges, olives and cheese. More serving gear: Hosting & serving →
- Ice: 50 lb for 12: 20 in the bar, 10 for cups (bar ice has touched jars and hands), 20 for top-ups across the 4 hours.
- November lots: below freezing, the cooler keeps the pitcher and celery from freezing, so keep the lids on the bays you aren't using. In wind, skip rimming plastic; set the salt out to pinch in. Bring gloves and a thermos of hot coffee for whoever pours; on a subzero morning, pour a Bloody Bull instead, half the Clamato swapped for hot beef broth, from a thermos.
- Food safety: meat, seafood and cheese stay on ice from setup on. Off the ice 2 hours (1 hour over 90°F), it gets tossed.
36 POURS
Two jugs
45 MIN
Prep at home, then a night in the fridge
NO COOKING
Mix, chill, pour
12
People
Ingredients
The mix (one 1-gallon jug; make two for 12 people)
- 64 oz Clamato (one bottle)
- ½ cup fresh lemon juice (3 lemons)
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp hot sauce, plus the bottle for the bar
- ¼ cup juice from the dill pickle jar
- 1 tsp celery salt
- 1 tsp coarse black pepper
- 4½ cups (36 oz) vodka
The rims
- 2 tbsp celery salt and 2 tbsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp seafood seasoning (Old Bay) and 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 3 tbsp smoked salt and 1 tbsp chili powder
- 3 lemons and 3 limes, cut into wedges
The must-have garnishes (for 12 people)
- 48 pickled asparagus spears (four 16 oz jars)
- 3 bunches celery, cut into stalks with the leaves on
- 12 oz cheese curds
- 1 jar (10 oz) stuffed olives
- 1 jar (24 oz) dill pickle spears
The bar (for 12 people)
- 25 cups (16 oz), 50 skewers and cocktail picks
- 12 pony bottles (7 oz) of Miller High Life
- 50 lb ice: 20 for the cooler, 20 for top-ups, 10 for cups
Steps
Two days out
- Shop the list. Stir the Clamato, lemon juice, Worcestershire, hot sauce, pickle jar juice, celery salt and pepper together in the jug; for 12 people, make two jugs. Refrigerate.
- Freeze a tray of Clamato cubes for the cups.
The night before
- Pour off a small jug for the driver, then add 4½ cups of vodka to each big jug, cap it tight and refrigerate it.
- Cook the bacon. Cut the celery, cheese and citrus. Jar the rim salts. Label every lid with masking tape.
Game-day morning
- Load the main cooler with the jugs, the jars and the cut garnishes, shrimp and cheese in the coldest corner. Buy the ice on the way.
At the lot
- Set up the six stations in order. Fill the bar cooler with ice and push the garnish jars, rim-salt jars and cut-garnish containers halfway in.
- Shake a jug, fill the pitcher and stand it in the ice. The jugs stay in the main cooler for refills.
- Rim a cup at the rim station and fill it with ice.
- Pour to two fingers below the rim (6 oz), stir with a celery stalk, add a spear (two in the first round) and build the skewer. First round gets a pony.
What to buy for 12
- Produce: 9 lemons, 3 limes, 3 bunches celery, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, 12 mini sweet peppers
- Jars and deli: 4 jars (16 oz) pickled asparagus, pickles, olives, pepperoncini, dilly beans, okra, cocktail onions, 12 oz cheese curds, bacon, shrimp, beef sticks
- Pantry: 3 bottles (64 oz) Clamato: two for the jugs, one for ice cubes; Worcestershire, hot sauce, rim salts
- Liquor store: a 1.75 L handle and a 750 ml of vodka, with 12 oz left over; 12 pony bottles (7 oz) of Miller High Life
- Gear: two 1-gallon jugs, a 64 oz pitcher with a lid, a long spoon, 3 small plates, a bottle opener
- Paper and ice: 25 cups (people refill), 50 skewers, picks, 50 lb of ice
Budget $250 at the grocery and liquor store for 12. Everything we sell for it, cooler included, is in Set up the bar above, and the button shows the current total. Print the full list for 12, 24 or 48 →
Our asparagus ships by weight, so four jars cost barely more to ship than one: order them together. Each maker ships its own box.
How much Bloody Mary mix do you need per person?
A 6 oz drink is 4 oz of mix and 2 oz of vodka, 2 parts mix to 1. Guests drink 2 to 3 over a 4-hour tailgate. Each 108 oz jug, vodka included, fits a gallon jug and pours 18.
How far ahead can you make Bloody Mary mix?
Two days. Stir the base two days out and refrigerate it. Add the vodka the night before, and shake the jug before every pour.
Can you use store-bought Bloody Mary mix?
Yes. Zing Zang is the grocery-store fallback: two 32 oz bottles per jug in place of the Clamato, same 4½ cups of vodka, plus 2 tbsp each of lemon juice and pickle juice: 64 oz of mix, 2 oz of add-ins and 36 oz of vodka pour 17.
What do you do with leftover Bloody Mary mix?
A capped, cold jug goes back in the fridge for the next morning. Dump the pitcher. Unopened jars go home.
What is a snit?
A snit is the small beer served on the side of a Bloody Mary in Wisconsin; Minnesota calls it a beer back. Set a 7 oz pony bottle of Miller High Life or a short Miller Lite next to each guest's first drink.
How do you rim a plastic cup?
Plastic doesn't hold juice like glass. Run the wedge around twice, press the cup straight down into the salt and give it a quarter turn. A smear of hot sauce holds it better still.
Pitcher in the middle, and step back.
