Le Marie Sanglante

Me, I like my Bloody Mary to be nice n' spicy, and Cholula is my choice for kicking up a mundane mary:

• 1.5 oz. (30-45 ml) vodka
• Fill glass with tomato juice
• 1 dash celery salt
• 2-4 dashes ground black pepper
• 2-4 dashes Cholula
• 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 1 Dash lime juice

Shake vigorously. Pour in a Highball glass filled with ice. Then garnish with:

• 1 spicy pickle spear

(That's how they do at the Chick Inn, one of my fave L-ville riverside watering holes.)

The Old Fashioned

You can learn more about the history of this toothsome treat by clicking here on the official blog of the Old Order of Transylvanian Gentlemen, and see variant recipes as well. But here's my version:

2 oz bourbon whiskey
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 splash Perrier
1 tsp sugar
1 maraschino cherry
1 orange wedge

Mix sugar, Perrier water and Angostura bitters, and pour into an old-fashioned glass. Drop in a cherry and muddle it. Then add the orange wedge - do not muddle the orange. Add ice cubes, then pour on the bourbon. Stir gently if you like, but I prefer to just layer on the bourbon and let it seek its own level.

Welcome!

Broadcasting live from the Voraxium Lounge, it's me, your host, Jeffrey Scott Holland, bringing you the latest culinary and liquidary experiments from my Appalachian Voodoo research kitchens.