What makes a good Bloody Mary? Well, that’s a little subjective, but overall a good, traditional Bloody Mary has a good tomato juice base, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, tabasco sauce, vodka, and a little extra. (You can check out my go-to Bloody Mary recipe here!) The reason I’m sharing this is because that’s the mindset that had going into The Bloody Mary Fest as a judge. At the festival, I tried over 20 Bloody Mary cocktails to help decide on which bar or restaurant had the best Bloody Mary in Austin and which bloody Mary mix was the best overall.
Before I share the results, I’ll tell you a little bit about The Bloody Mary Fest. It’s the largest event of its kind, and it’s hosted in various cities throughout the country. They have booths for Bloody Marys made by local bars, restaurants, and craft mixes. My husband and I had so much fun trying all of the mixes, food, and taking cute pictures. You can take a look at their schedule to see if they’ll be coming to a city close to you!
Not only is it a super fun celebration for brunch lovers, at the Austin event this year, they raised over $2,000 for Girls Empowerment Network!
The Scoring Criteria for Judging the Bloody Mary Fest
As a Bloody Mary lover, I know that everyone who likes Bloody Marys has a strong opinion about what makes a great Bloody Mary. What makes The Bloody Mary Fest really fun is that everyone has a vote for the People’s Choice award.
For the judges, we had a few different categories: Best Traditional Mix, Best Original Mix, Best Garnish, and Best Bloody Mary Mix. We judged each Bloody Mary on a scale of 1-10 for each category and shared out notes on our reasoning.
This year’s judges were:
Taylor Griffin | @BloodyNaysh
Sara Lottermoser | @BloodyNaysh
Victoria Mason | Endlessbrunch.com @Endless_Brunch (me!)
Nicole Cooke | VodkaGirlATX.com, Spirits Writer, Blogger
Bloody Mary Festival Winners
JUDGES’ PICK – BARS & RESTAURANTS
Traditional Recipe
– Winner: Yellow Jacket Social Club
– 2nd Place: Industry Eastside
Original Recipe
– Winner: The Cavalier
– 2nd Place: Kinda Tropical
Best Garnish
– Winner: Laurel Restaurant
– 2nd Place: The Cavalier
Best Michelada
– Winner: Momo’s Michelada Mix
JUDGES’ PICK – BOTTLED MIX
– Winner: Fat E’s Spicy Mator Mix
– 2nd Place: Kickled Mary
PEOPLE’S CHOICE SESSION 1
Bars & Restaurants
– Winner: Laurel Restaurant
– 2nd Place: The Cavalier
Bottled Mixes
– Winner: Kickled Mary
– 2nd Place: Chief’s Bloody Mary Mix
PEOPLE’S CHOICE SESSION 2
Bars & Restaurants
– Winner: Cisco’s Restaurant Bakery & Bar
– 2nd Place: Yellow Jacket Social Club
Bottled Mixes
– Winner: Kickled Mary
– 2nd Place: Chief’s Bloody Mary Mix
Overall, it was a fantastic event! There were so many amazing and unique Bloody Mary mixes like a green Bloody Mary with an escargot topping from 1417, a clamato forward cocktail from Salt Traders, and a wasabi spiced Bloody Mary from Kinda Tropical. Of all the Bloody Marys, Laurel slayed the garnish game with a full feast – chicken wings, pork belly, celery, carrots, and olives.
Bloody Mary Fest Participants
Everyone at the event brought their A-game. Here’s the full list of local bars and restaurants who attended the event!
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