14 Bloody Mary Mixes Ranked Worst To Best

The bloody mary is one of those iconic breakfast-approved alcoholic drinks that has tired souls everywhere rallying themselves on Sunday mornings to the local brunch spot. Perhaps it's the tomato juice, the earthy celery seed, or the green garnishes protruding from the glass that make this cocktail seem more like a savory smoothie than something that will get you buzzed. Whatever the case, one thing's for sure — we love a bloody mary.

The average fan of the lunchtime cocktail typically only gets to enjoy it at the occasional brunch out, and the ingredients that go into the mix are a bit of an enigma. While the bloody mary, when it was first invented, consisted only of equal parts vodka and tomato juice, it has since evolved into a complex array of spices, herbs, and juices, with every bartender claiming to have the perfect recipe.

If brunch crowds and reservations at 11 a.m. on Sunday mornings aren't really your speed, the good news is that there are countless bloody mary mixes available for purchase. They are each surprisingly unique, crafted with varying recipes ranging from spice-heavy to citrus-forward. We've tried 14 different mixes from nine different brands and ranked them according to which are the most delicious and true to the bloody mary tradition. The next time you'd rather stay in on the weekend and enjoy your lunchtime cocktail at home, you'll know exactly what mix to buy.

Major Peter's The Works comes in a large 1.75-liter plastic jug, available for $14.99 on Amazon. Unfortunately, there was no doubt about ranking this mix last place — it has a dirty flavor that makes you wonder what exactly you're drinking. The zest and bite of lemon and vinegar aren't there; the sweetness of tomato, the earthiness of celery, garlic, and onion powder are missing. It tastes as though your bartender had stuck a celery garnish into your drink unwashed and still covered in dirt.

Upon reading the ingredients list, I'm unsurprised I didn't like it. It begins with tomato paste, horseradish, and vinegar, but then falls off into a 'spice' blend that features corn gluten, wheat gluten, 'protein,' and guar gum, followed by a Worcestershire sauce made with high fructose corn syrup. The beauty of the bloody mary is in its simplicity — straightforward ingredients that any kitchen would have mixed into something nourishing and vibrant — and this mix isn't that.

There are bars around the U.S. known for their over-the-top bloody mary garnishes, drawing crowds eager to snap a photo and show off their elaborate cocktail to their followers. But most bars will opt for a simple celery stalk or a few cornichons and pepperoncinis stabbed with a toothpick. For the pickle lover who snacks on skewers straight out of the jar, the cornichon on a toothpick just doesn't cut it — we want our pickle added into the bloody mary, where you can enjoy its delightful tartness and dill aroma in every sip. 

V8 and Grillo's have got you covered with cans that sell in 6 packs for about a dollar each. I find the design of the mix being served in a can to be a bit impractical, as you'd have to drink some of it to make room for your shot of vodka, and at that point, you may as well pour it into another vessel to mix properly and add ice. It is, however, nostalgic.

As far as flavor, it's a bit one-note. The dill is noticeable but not overwhelming, and the pickle juice is prevalent, but it lacks the tang of tomato, the hints of sweetness, and the robust umami of Worcestershire. It really tastes just like tomato juice with dill, which didn't stack up to other brands that better rounded out their flavors.

Every bartender and bloody mary enthusiast has their own prized recipe and secret ingredient. Sometimes it's a specific hot sauce that really elevates that kick, other times it's a theatrical display of fried foods and garnishes balanced atop one glass. In the case of Barcoop Bevy, which costs $12 for a liter, their not-so-secret ingredient (it is on the label after all) is tamarind, a tropical fruit whose complex flavor is becoming more and more popular in cocktails and bloody mary mixes.

While I've ranked this mix lower on the list, it's not necessarily bad. It starts with a light kick — just enough to wake you up without upsetting your stomach — and moves into sweet with a slight tang of acidity. The problem for me is it's too sweet, a characteristic that bloody marys just aren't known for. Already heavy on the tomato, the sugars overwhelm any herbaceousness or lingering spice and distract from what a bloody mary should be: refreshing, savory, and slightly spiced.

Zing Zang dill pickle bloody mary mix is a big step up from the V8 x Grillo's collab that left me wanting more. It's only $5.99 for a 32-ounce bottle and has a strong dill pickle aroma that satisfies the pickle lover while still letting the tomato, celery, and Worcestershire shine through. I will say, for a dill pickle mix, it's surprisingly sweet, and I would enjoy it more if it leaned into the clean tartness of crunching on a dill pickle rather than the sweetness of a bread-and-butter slice.

As a bloody mary mix. overall it is perhaps controversial. The pickle fan will be enthused, but the bloody mary connoisseur who wants a bit more tomato flavor and umami may not be pleased. If you're on the pickle side of things, it's a great mix to have at home.

There are those who buy a bloody mary mix just to add more hot sauce at home, or who ask their bartender to kindly pass the Tabasco so they can heat up their cocktail at brunch. For spice lovers, several brands have released hotter versions of their originals, so you can skip this step.

McClure's spicy, which costs $13 for a 16-ounce jar, is delicious as a bloody mary mix but misses the mark on being spicy. It has a pure-tomato taste that's only subtly sweet, a palate-cleansing zing of vinegar, a hint of garlic and black pepper, and the faintest burn of red pepper in the middle of the tongue. I actually wonder if the wrong mix was mistakenly poured into the spicy jar, as it's milder than many brands that aren't even labeled as spicy. While I enjoyed the mix, the consumer who's expecting a good spicy mix will undoubtedly be disappointed.

Many regions in the U.S. — not to mention countries around the world — have signature seasoning blends they faithfully stick to. Montana has Alpine Touch, Louisiana has Slap Ya Mama, and Maryland has Old Bay. Of course, some of these are so popular they've spread around the country, but no one is as loyal to Old Bay as Marylanders.

We don't know exactly what's in Old Bay seasoning, but celery seed, paprika, and black pepper are among the known ingredients, and they match up perfectly with the more traditional ingredients in a bloody mary.

The 32oz bottle costs about $6 and has a unique flavor. At first smell and sip, it has a distinctly savory aroma full of the spices you'd expect from Old Bay. There's a hint of orange juice and molasses, and it finishes with a lingering spice. I enjoyed that the brand made a mix that's distinctively Old Bay and doesn't conform to every traditional bloody mary ingredient. They actually incorporated orange wine into the recipe, which I suspect is the key to its very individualistic flavor. While this mix would make a fantastic gift for the Old Bay enthusiast, its spice-heavy flavor may be controversial to some. A great niche buy, but perhaps not the best traditional bloody mary mix.

Tabañero is a brand that specializes in hot sauces, and they've made this horseradish-and-celery bloody mary mix with a dash of their original hot sauce to amp up the heat. The use of the hot sauce in the mix is definitely noticeable — it doesn't have the nasally heat of horseradish but rather a slowly growing burn that creeps up from the tip of your tongue to the back of your sinuses. For the spice lover, it's perfect.

This 25-ounce bottle costs $12, and the mix is thick and concentrated, almost like a creamy tomato soup. But beyond the spice, the flavor does fall a bit flat. There's not much tomato, and savory or umami notes are lost in the background. While it's not necessarily advertised for its heat level (although one may assume as much from the horseradish on the label), that is its main characteristic. If you're looking for something hot with a robust consistency, Tabañero's is a good buy, but it lacks the balance of some of the other brands. 

K Bloody Mary's Deep Heat tastes like a cocktail that would be served in an artisan restaurant with intimate dining areas and carefully crafted menus. This mix costs $18 for a 25-ounce bottle and is made with all vegan and organic, locally sourced ingredients. It's a bottle for the bloody mary enthusiast that wants top-notch quality, and a great example of why you should use fresh ingredients to make a better bloody mary mix.

The aroma straight out of the bottle is herbaceous and vibrant. The flavor leads with celery and builds slowly at the back of your palate, making your mouth water. It's not an overwhelming kick by any means, and is more dry-spice forward than it is red-chili hot. Each time you taste it, you notice different bold flavors — garlic, olive, cayenne, onion, celery, tomato.

The flavor is so pronounced on this drink that, depending on what you're having for brunch, it might overwhelm your dish, but it would be the perfect bloody mary to have alongside a plate of scrambled eggs, where the sweet tomato and spice notes can really shine. I enjoyed the complexity and balance of this mix, but did find myself craving a bit more heat, as it doesn't bring the same spice and pep as some of the other hot-labeled mixes.

One thing about Zing Zang's Blazing mix — it is, indeed, blazing hot. The kick hits your tongue immediately and slowly spreads throughout your mouth, but despite its rapid rise, it doesn't overstay its welcome and soon fades into the background. The flavor beyond the spice is well-balanced, with savory vegetables, a hint of sweetness, and the complexity of Worcestershire still shining through.

Zing Zang original is already an award-winning bloody mary mix, and when your original already has a following, it just makes sense to add more flavors. Their VP of Marketing at Chicago-based Zing Zang said in an interview with BevNet "Our research shows that up to 70% of bloody mary consumers add hot sauce to their bloody marys...Those insights led us to create Zing Zang Blazing, a delicious, hotter, and spicier version of our [original] mix." As a hot-sauce lover myself, I'm thrilled with the heat level in this mix. The consistency of it, though, is a bit thin, and once shaken with ice and vodka only becomes more watered down. There was one other spicy blend that hit a home run on consistency and balanced the flavors.

Of all the brands that put out a spicy version of their originals, Barsmith really took the cake. The difficulty with adding spice to a bloody mary mix is that you can't just splash some hot sauce or cayenne pepper in and call it good. Ideally, the flavors will still be balanced and play off of each other, without the spice drowning out everything else.

In aroma, Barsmith's Nashville hot smells deceptively just like tomato juice. In taste, it starts out sweet with tomato juice but builds into a slow burn characteristic of cayenne pepper (one of the main ingredients). There's a bit of complexity to the heat with jalapeño and horseradish, which hits your whole mouth and lingers for a while.

Beyond the spice, there's a pleasant acidity from lemons, lime juice, and white vinegar, with a hint of tropical fruit from tamarind. I wish it had a bit of something green, like celery or spinach, but all in all, it's incredibly well-rounded with a robust spice profile. Of the spicy mixes, it's my favorite, but when judged alongside some original blends, a few rang truer to the bloody mary experience.

McClure's has a surprisingly simple ingredient list: water, tomato paste, white vinegar, salt, and a few spices. The bloody mary became a popular breakfast cocktail through a very simple recipe that used vodka and canned tomato juice as the base, and might be dressed up with lemon juice and some spices. McClure's seems to follow the closest to these humble origins, and lays out exactly why the bloody mary became famous — in its simplest form, it's absolutely delicious.

The flavor is smooth and sweet with a hint of tomato. There's a nice zing of vinegar, balanced by the green flavors of cucumber and celery, with a hint of black pepper. It tastes remarkably fresh, honest, and delicious.

The short ingredient list does beg the question of why a 16-ounce jar costs $4.99, although that is not a factor I used in my ranking. Ultimately, its simplicity is appealing, but not enough to rank higher than the brands that masterfully blended many fresh ingredients into bold, bright mixes.

Tasting this bloody mary brought a smile to my face. The presence of herbs, spices, and savory goodness is strong, and the scent of celery seed cleanses your palate with its wholesome presence. In each sip, you notice something new, and the exploration of flavors keeps drawing you in for more. There's a subtle heat at the back of your tongue that keeps you alert while a strong herbal aroma simultaneously (and conveniently) wipes out any memory that vodka has been added to this drink. The bottom line: it tastes incredibly healthy, like a green smoothie designed to reinvigorate and recharge. 

It's $18 for a 32-ounce bottle, and while the price is steep, this mix is so robust and concentrated that you only need a little to make its presence known. It's a fantastic bloody mary mix — especially for those who love bold flavors and textures — but the consistency is a bit thick and pulpy for a cocktail and may offend those sensitive to texture. 

According to the brand's CEO, Brent Albertson, "Almost 5 out of every 10 bottles of bloody mary mix sold in the USA is Zing Zang." Perhaps this has something to do with why this mix tastes exactly like what you'd expect of a bloody mary — it's very possible that many of the bars and restaurants you've been ordering your favorite cocktail from are actually using Zing Zang to save the trouble of coming up with their own recipe.

The magic is certainly in their use of seven different vegetable juices, including spinach, tomato, carrot, and beet. The flavor isn't just straight tomato (although the tomato is distinct), but is rounded out with more savory notes to balance the sweet. There's a mild horseradish burn, a touch of acidity, and everything plays together nicely with the refreshing veggie notes. At second place, Zing Zang's original was held back from first only because I find the consistency to be slightly thin, as it becomes even thinner once mixed with vodka and shaken with ice.

Barsmith's Distinguished Blend Bloody Mary mix hit the nail on the head. It has a lovely consistency that's just a bit thicker than Zing Zang without being soupy. The flavor comes through first with a bright acid that snaps you out of your stupor, followed by a kick that's just faint enough to be true to a bloody mary without scaring off the more sensitive palates, and finishes smoothly with tomato and celery. It's robust, well-rounded, and straightforward.

As an added bonus, it's $7.99 for a 32-ounce bottle, a very reasonable price for a mix that's made without GMO ingredients, artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. There are renowned bloody marys being served up at bars and restaurants around the country, but if you're dying to stay in your pajamas at home, Barsmith is the perfectly balanced mix to have on hand.

To rank these bloody marys, I first tasted them both with and without Tito's vodka. If there were directions on the packaging, I followed them, although many leave the quantity of vodka added up to the consumer.

What I was looking for is a bloody mary mix that balances the flavors one would expect of their bloody mary; there should be a hint of sweetness from the tomato juice, fresh notes of celery, a hint of acidity, whether from lemon juice or vinegar, and at least a mild spice, either from pepper or horseradish. While I enjoy extra spicy or extra pickle-y flavors, these did not rank higher as they didn't stick to a classic bloody mary. I also considered the consistency and texture of the liquid, knowing that a drink that's too thin or too pulpy will turn some people off.