If you’ve been reading our reviews, you may have guessed we like Bloody Marys. Part of our assessment of a hotel, lounge or airline’s beverage complement requires us to make, or be served, a tasty Bloody Mary.

Ingredients

• Vodka (50ml)
• Tomato juice
• Lemon wedge
• Worcestershire Sauce
• Tabasco Sauce
• Black pepper
• Cube ice

Method

• Half fill a high ball glass with ice. Pour a generous amount of good vodka over it – 50ml works for us.
• Dash 4 drops of Worcestershire sauce and 2 drops of Tabasco sauce.
• Squeeze the juice out of a wedge of lemon, run the wedge around the rim of the glass, then chuck it into the glass.
• Top the glass up with tomato juice.
• Stir with a cocktail stirrer (or a spoon, or a straw)
• Put a pinch of cracked black pepper on the top.
• Finally, drink enthusiastically.

Why does this matter, you ask? For us, it acts as a good baseline indicator for the level of thought and preparation a lounge or cabin team have undertaken. If there’s no Worcestershire sauce, or the tomato juice is passata, we’ll assume the beverages are just for show.

Did you know?

British Airways serve over 1 million Bloody Marys each year. They’re popular because tomato is rich in Umami, which is one of the five main tastes. The strong umami flavour is able to cut through the numbing effect of altitude on our tastebuds far better than subtle flavours do.