Personally, I never find it easy to shop for men. Birthdays, Christmas, Father Day… I feel like every gift idea has been done to death (a shirt, a tie, a watch, a… Home Depot gift card, I don’t know!) and this year I wanted to be more original. I had to share the Bloody Mary Gift Basket I gave my friend Ken because I had so much fun putting it together, and he absolutely loved it.
One thing Ken and I have in common is that we are both foodies. We love to go out and try interesting restaurants and I’m always on the look out for places I know he would get a kick out of. When it comes to the most important meal of the weekend, I know there is one feature of any brunch menu that Ken will be sold on: A Bloody Mary bar.
I took this picture in the fall at Front Page News, a restaurant in Little 5 Points area of Atlanta that is known for their Bloody Mary bar. He had so much fun putting it together (even if he did get a little carried away with the hot sauce selection) I thought, why not give him his own Bloody Mary bar? Personally, I can’t stand Bloody Mary’s, but I have a lot of friends who are obsessed with them, so I’ve learned to recognize a good one. This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Click here to read our full disclosure policy.
What to put in a Bloody Mary Gift Basket
-The basket! Any good sturdy container will do- All those glass jars are heavy! To keep it simple, go with a shallow wicker basket like this one.
–V8 Tomato Juice (of course)
-Absolut Peppar (pepper flavored vodka)
-Bacon Vodka (that’s right- BACON VODKA… recipe below)
-Celery
-Lemons and Limes
-Interesting hot sauces (I found 3 I thought he would like- Dave’s Gourmet has several different types that would make a great combo)
-Pickled jalapenos
-Olives (I got some stuffed with garlic, some with blue cheese, and some with jalapenos)
–Demitri’s Bacon RimShot
(or any bacon salt/BBQ rub that you think would be good along the rim of the glass)
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How to make bacon vodka
If you want to make bacon vodka (and trust me, you do) it’s super easy. Just put about 3 tablespoons of liquid bacon grease in a mason jar with the vodka, shake it up, and let it sit at room temperature 4-6 hours. Then, pop it in the freezer for an hour. The grease will solidify and the vodka won’t, so after an hour you can pour it through a fine mesh strainer to get the solids out. Lastly, run it through a coffee filter to get out the remainder of the grease. Be warned: It’s still going to taste a little greasy, and I wouldn’t recommend it straight- but in the Bloody Mary, it is phenomenal!
Do you need to make this gift a super-duper one? Add an awesome cocktail pitcher for stirring up those Bloody Mary’s.
And how about a set of glasses? I think these are pretty perfect!
Or…. Everybody loves their Yeti Tumblers. This set is just the thing for a bloody mary.
Put the basket together with the glasses and/or a pitcher and you’ve got a great gift to take to the one of those Stock-the-Bar wedding showers or Housewarming parties.
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Bacon vodka? That sounds phenomenal. I’d double the use and make peanut butter cup martinis with the bacon vodka…