I’ve finally made this cocktail! I had the idea to make a bloody mary with tomatillos for awhile. But was nervous about where to start, so I googled it and there are MANY people who had a similar idea. At first I was going to make a recipe for a recipe roundup (the tomatillo edition will be coming up soon!) but I never seemed to have all the ingredients. I didn’t want to spend a lot of money for something that isn’t really food.
It also didn’t help that I never had vodka on hand. I am not a huge vodka person, I don’t quite see the point. So it doesn’t have any flavor? Isn’t the fun of booze to have the flavor? I get it- there is a time and place for vodka, and some of the liquors I like are pretty much infused vodkas.
So when it became tomatillo season here I knew I really HAD to make some cocktails with tomatillos. I jazzed things up a little and made the jalapeno lemongrass vodka, and decided to use it in the bloody mary. Since the vodka uses lemongrass, I tried to use more “asian” based mix ins. Instead of tabasco sauce, I used a little Sriracha. Instead of vegan Worcestershire sauce, I use some sweet soy sauce.
If you are interested in this drink but not a spicy person, simply make the lemongrass vodka without jalapenos. I would recommend keeping in the sriracha, it add just a hint of spice. The recipe makes 4 drinks, and they aren’t very strong. If you want to make them stronger just change the ratio of water to vodka, though you might want to change the serving size to 6 glasses instead of 4.
- 1 1/2 lbs. tomatillos peeled, washed, and quartered
- 1 cucumber roughly chopped
- 1 small green bell pepper
- 1/2 cup water*
- 1/2 cup jalapeno lemongrass vodka
- 1/2 tsp keffir lime powder (or a few fresh keffir lime leaves)
- 1/2 tsp sriracha
- 1 tsp sweet soy sauce
1 Add all ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.2 Take a nut milk strainer and strain out all the solids.3 Pour into a glass with ice and enjoy. You can pour the extra in a jar and save for later. It should last a while in the fridge do to the vodka. Just shake before pouring.
* Depending on how strong you want your drink, you can change the water to vodka ratio, going as far as 1 full cup of vodka.
Susan
I like the idea of this, though as a non-drinking, non-spicy person I would need to have mine very, very virgin. 😉 But it is a really cool take on the traditional bloody mary.
We can’t get fresh tomatillos here, only tinned ones.
Jennifer
Such a bummer about the tomatillos! I usually don’t see them in stores that often unless canned. They are really easy to grow, I guess they are just not in demand?
If you do try it out, I would make a lemongrass syrup or use grated lemongrass to add to make up for the vodka.
Jenny
I was worrying that I’d never heard of this cocktail before, then I saw the Halloween glass and made the Bloody Mary connection! I’ve never even had a Bloody Mary, and I’m a little scared by the idea of a spicy drink, but maybe I should face my fears at Halloween!
Jennifer
Most Bloody Mary’s are pretty tame in the spice department, though you never know with some of the artisan hipster bars.
Jennifer Bliss
Great shade of green!!!!
Sarah @ Long Island Vegan
What a cool twist! I love this idea. Beautiful color too 🙂
Kelly
Ha! I love this idea, and that it looks like a regular ol’ green juice but is very much not.