One place our family has been stopping at, when we travel to Northern Wisconsin is the Hilltop Bar/Grill in Stevens Point. A nice place for a cold one and some great food.

Noticed that in their Bloody Marys (the best I've had, IMHO) they:

Add peperoncini to their pickles and let the flavors mingle for a few days. Adds a little "heat" to nice crisp sour pickles. They have buckets full of this stuff behind the bar.

Then they add about a tablespoon of this juice and at least one of the pickles to their standard tomato mix.

If you haven't done this, give it a try!

Interesting tip Ron, I'll have to try it. I pride myself on making one of the best bloody mary's you'll drink and always looking for that "edge." do you know if they're adding any of the juice from the peperoncini jar or just the peppers? Any idea how long they let them sit?

I'm located near Stevens Point and what Ron is saying is pretty common around here. The pickles and peperoncini are stored in huge glass jars and probably been sitting around for weeks. And yes, they add juice from the jar using ladles to get at the juice as the jar gets emptier. Maybe a couple of tablespoons or so.

A couple of drops of pickle juice is a closely guarded secret that I have used for years... Since we are sharing secrets; another one is... use ONLY LEA & PERRIN, off brands will destroy your mix. One last thing; if you do not have time or fixin's to make your own mix... The best off the shelf BLOODY MARY MIX you have ever tasted isZing Zang

Larry,

Lost track of this thread for a while:

From what I can tell, they mix the Peperoncini & pickle juice along with the pickles & peppers.

My guess would be about 2:1 Pickle Juice to Pep. Juice. The pickles pick-up a little "heat" from the peppers & pepper juice, but it is just a nice little "kick" -- not over-powering.

Ralph - I'm with ya', man... I've never even tried Worch. other than L&P

This peperoncini and pickles thing sounds great!
Hmmm, 7:14 am... too early to try this

For years and years, I only made my own concoction that everyone liked or loved or hated or said, "Whatever" to... so...
Ok Ralph, I bought a bottle of Zing Zang... and it is good!! I've seen it on the shelves and I just passed on it. But after reading your post, thought I'd give it a taste.
Bottled BM mixes have come a loooong way....
Zing Zang is good.
Thanks!

I'll have to try zing zang once I get over my new addiction to the Bloody Caesar.

When I was picking up some more Clamato juice the other day, and told the clerk it was for Bloody Caesars, she asked if I had tried zing zang BM mix, and said it's great.

well, lert m,e tell you onw Bob... My bropther-im-law ans I juat finihed a botttle of zag zig dureing the gRreen bAy PacjergaMer an itts ggod sttuf.!
Pock sime up.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Lampe:
well, lert m,e tell you onw Bob... My bropther-im-law ans I juat finihed a botttle of zag zig dureing the gRreen bAy PacjergaMer an itts ggod sttuf.!
Pock sime up.

Jim Jim Jim, it's supposed to be mixed with Vodka, not Everclear!!

any Advil in the house

quote:

Originally posted by Ron G.:
Larry,

Lost track of this thread for a while:

From what I can tell, they mix the Peperoncini & pickle juice along with the pickles & peppers.

My guess would be about 2:1 Pickle Juice to Pep. Juice. The pickles pick-up a little "heat" from the peppers & pepper juice, but it is just a nice little "kick" -- not over-powering.

Ralph - I'm with ya', man... I've never even tried Worch. other than L&P

What kind of pickle juice?
Try putting some bitters in your BM's, good stuff there boy!!!!

As far as I could tell, the pickles were garden-variety sour spears - probably Milwaukee brand.

What you're looking for here are nice crisp, but sour type pickle spears. (few things worse than a soggy pickle IMHO) The sour juice with the spicy stuff from the peppers combines real nicely when given a chance to mingle, and then is dumped into your favorite Bloody Mary concoction.

I like the pickes too - they pick-up a little heat, & lose a little sourness. After marinating in the drink for a while, they get quite tasty.