Zing Zang

I may be a little late to the party (but then again, I don't drink THAT much), but this is the name of the best Bloody Mary mix I've ever found.  Why do I think the best?  Because you don't have to add a thing to it, except vodka.

I have to give you some history.  I used to make a mean mixer myself.  I was the toast of the tailgate.  Here it is (or was):  V-8 juice, a few globs of fresh horseradish, more than a few chokes on the pepper mill, several wrist shakes on the Tabasco bottle, a palm full of celery salt, ice, and vodka, measured by me judging by how stiff the crowd was, and how loose they needed to be.

This concoction was the "control" formula for Bloody Marys at our events.  In reality, it was designed to please Genna, my wife, but I guess everyone else agreed with her.

Then, to make a long story short, Genna had a health crisis which changed her body chemistry, including her taste buds.  Suddenly the old mixture didn't do it for her.

I kept trying different variations, and each one just got me that classic wrinkled nose rejection of hers.

We'd given up Bloody Marys for some time, until we were in Florida last month at our favorite place, Caffe Luna Rosa in Delray Beach.  Bingo!  That mixture did the trick, for both of us.   John, the manager, was kind enough to tell me Zing Zang was the mix.  Praise the Lord, I thought, I'm back in the Bloody Mary business, but the story then got a little tricky.

We got home from Florida, and I could find Zing Zang anywhere; not even Wegman's had it.

Finally, the new liquor store on Route 9 in Marlboro, The Wine Academy, could order a case for me, which I just got yesterday.  I said to Genna after our cocktail hour tonight,

"Gen, were down to our last eleven bottles, I better order another case, lol!" 

That's how good it is.