Renew a forgotten quest

As I was cleaning up some of my files the other day, I found an Excel spreadsheet called Best Bloody Mary. It had been a while since I had seen it, the last entry was on January 23, 2010. That is seven years ago. Well, let me explain the wonderment of this file.

Back in 2001, my mom had passed away in January. Our first family Christmas without mom was that year and I had gone to my sister's house in Orlando for the day. It was before noon and my sister asked if I would like a Bloody Mary to drink. I said sure; I had had them before and usually enjoyed them. These were wonderful. I told my sister Pat that it may be the best Bloody Mary I ever had. Then I forgot about it.

The following February in 2002, I was on a ski trip with friends to Steamboat Springs in Colorado. We had flown into the small airport in Hayden Colorado, similar in size to our local airport here in Melbourne. The ski trip was great and as we were leaving, I noticed a sign at the Airport Bar that said the Best Bloody Marys in the world. Well, I had to try them. I was still on vacation and I had a cross country flight. Why not enjoy myself. The drink was great. I thought, I should set myself a quest to find the best Bloody Mary in the World.

When I got home, I created the Excel spreadsheet, and pursued the quest. Recently, I posted in Facebook a photo of some large Bloody Marys. I have included two of them here...

Bloody Mary from Sobelman's in Milwaukee

Another Bloody Mary from Sobelman's in Milwaukee

Although they look like they would win any contest, in my scoring system, the extra garnishes would not increase the score too much. My score was on a scale from 1-100 where 100 would be the best. Scoring includes "Overall Taste" for up to 25 points, "Spicy" for up to 25 points, "Size" for up to 15 points, "Price" for up to 15 points, "Celery" for up to 10 points and the last is "Extras" for the last 10 points. Size matters but not as much as taste and spiciness.

I even added guidelines for each category to help me score. For example, only a free drink gets 15 points in the "Price" category. My sister did well there...

From Christmas 2001 to April 2002, I tried 8 different Bloody Marys. Places included: Pat's house in Orlando, Airport Bar in Hayden Colorado, Captain Katanas, Dragon Ladys, Pineda Inn, Conchy Joes, Cypress Head Country Club in Port Orange and my friend John Intellisano's house in Indian Harbour Beach. Then there was a seven year gap...

Then in May of 2009 through January 2010, I tried 5 more Bloody Marys at Doria's Restaurant in Middlebury Vermont, Captain Hiram's Sand Bar, Squid Lips, Matt's Casbah and Sand on the Beach.

Thirteen total. Not much of a quest. I think I have failed. Realize that four of the drinks were had in the same day. I am surprised I could remember to write them down. And how good is the fourth one after three others.

So you want to hear the results so far?

First place was a tie with 68 points each. The Airport Bar in Hayden Colorado and Captain Hiram's in Sebastian Florida. Third place went to Sand on the Beach in Melbourne Beach with 65 points. My sister came in fourth with 62 points. Fifth place was a tie with 58 points each; Cypress CC and Doria's Restaurant.

I think the quest needs to be continued. I heard Milliken's Reef at the Port has a great one and my friend Shari says that Tracy's Bar in Suntree has a great one on the weekend.

If anyone knows of a great Bloody Mary I should try, let me know. And if anyone wants to join me on this quest, let me know that too!