giphyWHAT IS IT? A cocktail made with vodka and tomato juice plus, spices, hot sauce, garnishes and what-have-you. If you started 2017 with a hangover — and let’s be real, look what website you’re on — you might have turned to a Bloody Mary to ease your entry into the year.

WHO CAME UP WITH SUCH A WEIRD DRINK? Probably a bartender named Ferdinand “Pete” Petiot, circa 1920, at Harry’s New York Bar, which is confusingly located in Paris. Get the full story here. For the record, there’s also a second bar in Paris and a bar in New York that claim they invented it.

WHY’S IT CALLED THAT? The blood part’s pretty obvious. The cocktail was originally called the Bucket of Blood (gross). As for Mary? Unclear. It could be a reference to a Queen of England. Or, if you believe the actor George Jessel, he invented the dink and named it after his friend Mary.

DOES IT CURE HANGOVERS? Maybe, hypothetically, temporarily, to some degree. What, you expected a clear answer to one of these questions?

WHAT SHOULD I GARNISH IT WITH? The best thing about the Bloody Mary is it’s a drink that comes with a snack. Yes, celery is traditional, and also boring. Fortunately, people put all kinds of delicious “garnishes” in their Bloody Mary, like:

HOW DO I MAKE ONE? Makes one serving.

  • 2 oz. Vodka
  • 4 oz. Tomato juice
  • 3-5 dashes Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 oz. Lemon juice
  • Tabasco and horseradish to taste
  • Cocktail shaker
  • Highball glass

Directions: Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker. Mix by pouring liquid back and forth between the shaker’s two halves. Pour into glass over ice.

Via Eater. Gif.