Grape & Grain | Where to find Hong Kong’s best Bloody Marys on the 94th birthday of the morning after classic

The Bloody Mary is 94 this year. Bartender Fernand “Pete” Petiot came up with the happy mix of vodka, tomato juice and a touch of spice at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris in 1921.
The name came from a customer. “One of the boys suggested we call it Bloody Mary,” Petiot told Newsweek in 1967, “because the drink reminded him of the Bucket of Blood club in Chicago, and he had a girl named Mary”.
Harry’s has basically stuck to Petiot’s original formula involving Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, salt, and black and cayenne pepper, although since the 1950s, Tabasco sauce has been used instead of cayenne.
Petiot emigrated to the United States, and while working at New York’s St Regis Hotel developed a more spicy version of the drink, which, complete with the celery stick garnish, has provided the basis for most subsequent variations on his theme.
Some of those have worked better than others.
The recipe in Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails, clearly stipulates “above all no celery salt”, which reflects what the late Andy MacElhone – who inherited the bar from his father Harry – thought of what had become of the drink once it was widely available elsewhere.
