Name: Antipasto Bloody Mary
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 4 ounces Back Pocket Provisions Bloody Brilliant; 1 ounce vodka; 1 ounce gin; 1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice; 2 dashes orange bitters; Pepperoni (I used uncured turkey sticks, cut into smaller pieces); Marinated artichoke hearts; Marinated mushrooms; Roasted peppers; Blue cheese stuffed olives; Lemon wedges; Basil sprigs

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This post has been compensated as part of my partnership with Back Pocket Provisions and may contain affiliate links. As always, all opinions are 100% my own.

Why go out to a restaurant to enjoy a fabulous cocktail? This Antipasto Bloody Mary is the perfect way to spend happy hour in the comfort of your own home!

Cocktail fads come and go, but the classics never go out of style.

But that doesn't mean we can't have fun dressing them up a bit, right?

Take the Bloody Mary. While it's often thought of as a brunch cocktail (and a favorite hangover cure for many!), it's also a perfect choice for entertaining.

I've talked about my love of the Bloody Mary mixes from Back Pocket Provisions before (did you catch them in this year's holiday gift guide?).

They've managed to SERIOUSLY up the quality of what a jarred/bottled cocktail mix can be. Back Pocket Provisions works with local farmers all over Virginia to fresh-press juice from their beautifully ripe tomatoes at the peak of ripeness every summer.

They currently offer jars and bottles of 3 insanely delicious varieties of Bloody Mary mixes:

Bloody Brilliant is our best rendition of the classic: fresh juice from locally-grown tomatoes with horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and cayenne pepper.

Bloody Baja is Southwest-style, with locally-grown tomatoes, organic sweet corn, jalapenos, garlic, and smoked spices.

Bloody Bangkok is a Southeast Asian-inspired blend of locally-grown tomatoes, Thai red curry, lemongrass, and fish sauce.

They make, hands-down, the best Bloody Marys I've ever enjoyed.

And I'm not saying that I'm a connoisseur on Bloody Marys or anything buuuuut I've done quite a bit of QC in my day.

Exhibit A:

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A post shared by Ashley Covelli (@bigflavors) on Jul 10, 2017 at 4:05pm PDT

Ahem.

And while you can make an alright Bloody Mary at home with storebought ingredients, what really makes a HUGE difference in the taste of your Bloody Mary is the quality of the tomato base.

That's why I love keeping a stash of bottles and jars from Back Pocket Provisions in my pantry. You can really taste that farm-fresh quality in each batch.

Hosting a party? Crack open a jar, add a little booze and a quick garnish and you'll impress the heck outta your guests.

Pinky promise!

And speaking of serving a crowd, Back Pocket Provision's Founder and CEO, Will Gray, has some tips to make your batch cocktail making even easier:

Sometimes Bloodys are more easily made by the pitcher than the glass. If you're serving four people or more (or just plan on day-drinking for a while - no judgment!), you can combine 1 whole quart jar of mix with 1 cup (8 fl oz) of vodka. Add a little fresh-squeezed lemon or lime juice or have some citrus wedges on hand for your guests. Rather than mixing it over ice, just have a ready supply so your guests can ice their own glasses. That way, the mix won't get diluted as it sits.

Or, if you're low on pitchers, you can try this trick: pour yourself 4oz of mix over ice, add an ounce or so of vodka, and set that aside for you to enjoy (you've earned it!). Then, refill the quart jar with vodka, shake, and you've got a pre-mixed batch cocktail ready to go.

I love these tips, and will for sure be using them the next time I'm making batch Bloodys!

With so many fun possibilities when it comes to Bloody Mary variations, I figured I'd go with an Italian entertaining classic, inspired by meals with my in-laws.

Do you enjoy antipasto? Antipasto isn't something that I grew up with, but since moving to New York and marrying into an Italian family, I have become well versed in the deliciousness of a good antipasto spread.

In our family, Antipasto is an assortment of dried and cured meats, olives, and pickled items along with a few types of cheese, and often fresh basil leaves.

Antipasto is fun because everyone is free to choose what they want off of the (often overwhelming) array of bite-sized items that are being offered.

And this is all before the actual meal!

So for my liquid homage to all things antipasto, I decided to start with the classic for a base - Bloody Brilliant.

I love pretty much any cocktail to have extra citrus, so I don't skimp on the freshly squeezed lemon juice when mixing up a Bloody Mary.

And while I'd usually go with vodka for a standard Bloody Mary, I'm really into gin these days too, so I used a bit of each. The balance of the 2 together was a very good call!

A few dashes of orange bitters went in before shaking it all up with some ice in a cocktail shaker.

When it comes to garnishing these bad boys, feel free to mix and match your favorite antipasto items and add them to a mini bamboo skewer!

I used a mix of pepperoni meat sticks (I used my favorite uncured turkey variety, cut into smaller pieces), marinated artichoke hearts, marinated mushrooms, roasted red peppers, blue cheese stuffed olives.

I finished each cocktail off with a few grinds of black pepper before popping on the antipasto skewers, then added a lemon wedge and basil sprig to each.

If you're making this for a crowd, you could prep your antipasto skewers in advance and keep them in the fridge. You could even make a big antipasto platter and server that alongside your Bloody Marys, with skewers for those who want to add them to their cocktails.

Any way you serve it up, this cocktail is guaranteed to be a hit!

What would you put on your antipasto skewer? I'd love to hear it in the comments section below.

And be sure to follow Back Pocket Provisions over on Instagram for more fabulous cocktail inspiration - I'm loving the looks of this Back Pocket Taco Salad!

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We're taking our newest batch of Bloody Baja for a spin this morning. Here's a Back Pocket Taco Salad: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ - 4oz Bloody Baja - 1.5oz Vodka - Few shakes of Hellfire Habanero Shrub from @bittermens - Juice of half a lime - Blue corn chips, for garnish - Fresh cucumber, snack peppers, and tomatoes, for garnish ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Combine mix, vodka, shrub, and lime juice in a shaker over ice. Crush up a handful of blue corn chips and use them to rim a glass. Fill with fresh ice. Strain the shaker into the glass and garnish with fresh vegetables. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ It's nacho Bloody, it's my bloody. #farmtococktail

A post shared by Back Pocket Provisions (@backpocketprovisions) on Aug 31, 2018 at 12:01pm PDT

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