The bloody mary drinker in your life will swoon over this personalized bloody mary gift basket with everything they need to make the perfect cocktail!

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.
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.

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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
- Absolut Peppar (pepper flavored vodka)
- Bacon Vodka (that's right- BACON VODKA... recipe below)
- Celery
- Lemons and Limes
- Pepperoncini Peppers
- Worcestershire Sauce
- Interesting hot sauces (I found 3 I thought he would like- Dave's Gourmet has several different types that would make a great combo)
- Horseradish
- Pickled Okra (make your basket extra special by making homemade spicy pickled okra. Our recipe requires no canning)
- Pickled Green Beans
- 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)

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!

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.
FAQ's
Refer to this article. The basics are tomato juice cocktail, vodka and assorted garnish and add-ons. You can also include pitchers, glasses, swizzle sticks, toothpicks, etc.
You can always go with a classic vodka. But, if you want to make it extra interesting use a pepper flavored vodka or even homemade bacon vodka.
The big ticket items are the vodka and the basket itself. The extras can be as numerous and extravagant as you like or keep it simple. Figure on anywhere from $30 on up.
Will says
Bacon vodka? That sounds phenomenal. I'd double the use and make peanut butter cup martinis with the bacon vodka...
Alina | Cooking Journey Blog says
I love this idea! So unique, perfect gift for cocktail-lover.
Pam says
Thanks so much, Alina!
Beth Sachs says
Oh my goodness that bacon vodka sounds amazing. My husband would absolutely love it. The gift basket is such a nice idea.
Pam says
Thank you, Beth!