Where in the world did the name “Bloody Mary” come from as a drink you may ask?  There are several versions of the story but the most convincing is that it originated in France back in the early 1920’s.

An American bar in France became very popular with the American tourists resisting prohibition.  This establishment, Henry’s New York Bar, had a very clever bartender named Pete Petiot.  Petiot got his hands on something new called “Vodka” which he promptly decided was tasteless.  Petiot, being familiar with American canned tomato juice decided to help that liquor along by combining it with tomato juice and some seasonings and Voila!

The first said name for this cocktail…wait for it….Bucket of Blood!  Can you imagine going to a restaurant and asking for a Bucket of blood?  I’m sure all around you would quickly lose their appetite!  So as you have guessed, that name changed to Bloody Mary which referenced Mary Tudor, Mary 1 of England and Ireland, known for her bloody reign.  Still a bit shaky as a drink name but nonetheless the name that stuck and the name we still use today.

There are several versions of the story out there yes, just like you can make several versions of the “Bloody Mary”!  Have you ever tried a Michelada or perhaps a Bloody Derby?  Give them a try using Wilks & Wilson Bloody Mary Mix!

Michelada: W & W Bloody Mary Mix and Beer

Bloody Derby: W & W Bloody Mary Mix and Bourbon

Bloody Maria: W & W Bloody Mary Mix and Tequila

Bloody Scotsman:  W & W Bloody Mary Mix and Scotch

Red Snapper:  W & W Bloody Mary Mix and Gin

Spicy Sailor:  W & W Bloody Mary Mix and Rum

Cheers!

75 years ago, a Russian immigrant named Sophie Berezinski had a problem to solve. She’d come to America with 2,000 solid copper mugs and the monumental task of selling them. Berezinski’s father owned a copper factory in Russia — Moscow Copper Co. — where she’d worked since her childhood, always wanting to be close to her father. She took great pride in her role there, and in one fateful endeavor, she designed pure copper, cylindrical mugs — mugs that would someday become internationally ubiquitous with the famous Moscow Mule cocktail. But at that time, the mugs weren’t selling in Russia, so she brought them with her upon immigrating to the U.S. Her husband quickly tired of having thousands of mugs cluttering their modest home and he mandated that she was either to sell them or get rid of them.

Luck intervened when Berezinski wandered into Hollywood’s Cock n’ Bull pub. There, she met two friends in a similar predicament: John Martin had purchased the Smirnoff distillery, which was struggling to make waves in an American market that had little interest in vodka. Jack Morgan, the bar’s owner, was trying to get his guests to fall in love with his own brand of ginger beer.

Together, the three developed a cocktail recipe that would save each of their respective ventures. They derived what the world knows now as the Moscow Mule; it highlighted the subtle and smooth Smirnoff vodka with the pungent kick of ginger beer, and was served, of course, in Berezinski’s beautifully crafted copper mugs.

Sophie Berezinski, pictured with her husband Max Berezinski, was an unlikely catalyst for one of the world’s favorite drinks. All the same, her copper mugs are an integral part of the Moscow Mule experience.

“So the Moscow Mule really was more of a fluke than anything,” says JJ Resnick, Berezinski’s great grandson and founder/CEO of the relaunched and reimagined Moscow Copper Co. “You know, it wasn’t like three people that had been sitting around for weeks working on a business — they all just had their different products that needed to be sold and they came together and were like, ‘Wow, we should figure something out here.’ I don’t think they realized at the time how big it would grow to.”

Two generations later, Resnick is bringing back the solid copper mugs that helped make the Moscow Mule famous. He launched Moscow Copper Co. last year, manufacturing his great grandmother’s original mule mug design, and under the namesake of his great-great grandfather’s business. He was inspired to bring back the authentic mug after a trip abroad in which he noticed the famed cocktail being consumed out of cups of all shapes, sizes and materials.

Wilks & Wilson Moscow Mule Recipe

2 oz Vodka

1 oz Wilks & Wilson Ginger Simple Elixir

fresh lime

club soda

Add vodka, W & W Ginger Simple, fresh squeezed lime in a shaker with ice.  Shake to combine and pour into copper mug.  Top with club soda and fresh lime wedge!  Enjoy~

The history of bitters is an interesting one.  They were originally considered proprietary medicine made by steeping herbs, roots, and other spices in alcohol.  Their origins goes back to medieval apothecaries, and were first patented for sale in 18th-century England, where they were concocted by so-called physicians who claimed the bitters were remedies for digestive and circulatory disorders.

While touted as “cure-alls”, it’s a fact that they consisted of anywhere from 30 to 50 percent alcohol.  In the United States, bitters reached their height of popularity around the time of the Civil War.

The bitter bottles were fancy, colorful figural glass bottles shaped like log cabins, Native American women, or fish. Once the contents were emptied, bitters bottles were often kept as decorative objects, instead of being tossed in the garage.

Antique Fish-shaped Bitters bottles

For collectors, a bitters bottle must have the word “bitters” somewhere on the label or in the lettering to distinguish it from a regular medicine bottle.

Today, the market for bitters bottles is strong, especially for rare examples. Some have sold at auction for 30 to 70 thousand dollars! Recent private sales of exceptionally rare bottles have been in the  $100,000 to $200,000 dollar range!

Wilks & Wilson Bitters

 
At Wilks & Wilson, our bitters also come packaged in very attractive bottles.  While we can’t say if our bottles will ever be worth $200,000, we guarantee you won’t have to spend a fortune to enjoy the bitters.

And, you can be sure they add VALUE to any drink!

From The Wilks & Wilson Blog Team