What does the Easter Bunny drink when he wants to get buzzed; a Bunny Mary of course! Find out how to make this vibrant cocktail below.
Bloody Mary with a twist
You are probably familiar with the popular brunch cocktail the Bloody Mary. It's a cocktail made from a base of tomato juice that is spiked with vodka and a range of spices and flavourings which might include Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, horseradish, celery salt, pepper and lemon juice. Every bar you visit will no doubt have their own spin on this classic drink. I've even made a festive version which I like to enjoy over the Christmas period. (It's great the morning after a Christmas party!!)
But I know that tomato juice can be an acquired taste and not everyone loves Bloody Marys as much as I do. A nice compromise is to swap tomato juice for something a little sweeter. We still want the earthy, savoury notes of a vegetable juice but with a little more natural sweetness and a thinner consistency so it doesn't feel like you're eating a blended meal! The solution is carrot juice.
And who loves carrots? Why the Easter bunny of course! This carrot based cocktail has therefore been given the name Bunny Mary and I LOVE it.
Which carrot juice?
If you have a juicer then you can't beat fresh carrot juice, but I appreciate most of you won't have one of those to hand. (I certainly don't). When you head to the store you will no doubt be confronted with a couple of different options. All will work well but you will want to check whether or not they have been sweetened, how much water has been added and if they are mixed with other fruit juices.
In stores near me I can get 3 types: thick, fresh carrot juice including pulp; a thin, fresh carrot juice that has been watered down and orange juice added; and a "long life" carrot juice that has nothing added. My preference is the fresh carrot juice that's had a splash of orange juice added. Whilst we definitely want the savoury flavour of the carrot juice to shine (and we add pickle juice which also brings savoury flavour) I do think it needs a little sweetness and orange juice does this well. I've listed the two types of juice separately in the ingredients list but do check the ingredients list of your carrot juice first (the orange juice won't always be included on the label!).
Which spirit?
Once you've got your base juice sorted you will need to pick your spirit. It's common to make a Bloody Mary with vodka and that's a perfectly acceptable spirit to use for a Bunny Mary as well.
If you are able to get your hands on a herbal spirit (perhaps gin or acquavit, perhaps even Drambuie) then this could also work well. Spices and herbs like cardamom, caraway and dill pair beautifully with carrot so keep an eye out for these on the ingredients list of any herbal spirit you choose.
How to garnish a Bunny Mary
You'll see from the photos that I've kept my Bunny Mary garnish quite simple: just a couple of cornichons, pearl onions and a stick of celery. I've also sprinkled over some chilli & lime salt. But any of these garnishes would work well:
- A carrot stick
- A stick of celery
- Dill fronds
- Carrot tops
- Cornichons
- Pearl onions
- Olives
- Cherry tomatoes
- Radishes
- Caper berries
- A wedge of lemon or lime
- Chilli salt
- Black pepper
The choice is yours!
The recipe
Bunny Mary
Equipment
- Highball glass
Ingredients
- 50 ml vodka
- 100 ml carrot juice
- 25 ml orange juice
- 1 tablespoon pickle juice
- hot sauce to taste
- 1 stick celery to garnish
- 2 cornichon to garnish
- 2 pearl onions to garnish
- 1 pinch chilli & lime salt to garnish
Instructions
- Fill your glass with ice.
- Pour over the vodka, carrot juice, orange juice and pickle juice. Add the hot sauce to taste and stir until chilled.
- Add more ice if needed.
- Garnish and serve.
Nutrition
More cocktail recipes
If you like this then you might want to try some of my other cocktail recipes!
Drinks archive
Head to the archive for a full list of drinks recipes on the blog.
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