Sting Ray Bloody Mary Mix is Now Back in a 32 fl. Oz. Bottle

Blue Crab Bay
Bloody May Mixer

The cocktail known as a Bloody Mary is synonymous with brunch. One thing we know for sure, Blue Crab Bay’s Sting Ray Bloody Mary Mixer with Ocean Clam Juice is fantastic. It is now back in a 32 fl. oz. bottle so there is even more to savor.

But who, exactly, was Bloody Mary, and how did she get a drink named in her honor? The best-known Bloody Mary in history is none other than Mary I of England, also known as Mary Tudor, the first queen of England to lay claim to the throne. she bears this unfortunate nickname because she burned over 300 Protestant heretics at the stake. In more recent times, Bloody Mary is an urban legend shared among kids throughout the United States. The "ritual" usually involves a person standing in a dark bathroom chanting "Bloody Mary" 13 times until a ghostly woman appears in the mirror (Bloody Mary might be friendly or not).

It's not exactly clear how the cocktail ended up named Bloody Mary. In the book The Bloody Mark: The Lore and the Legend of a Cocktail Classic,, author Brian Bartels explains that the drink likely originated at Harry's New York Bar in Paris, France in the 1920s. Bartels shares a few possibilities about how the drink came to be, with the likeliest explanation being that famed bartender Fernand Petiot took an existing blend of tomato juice and vodka, and added flavoring agents like lemon juice, Tabasco, and horseradish.

In 1939 comedian George Jessel claimed in the New York Herald Tribune that he invented the Bloody Mary. In a later interview, though, Petiot acknowledges that the vodka and tomato juice combination existed before he "took it over" and dressed it up with spices.

Even the reason for naming the drink "Blood Mary" is unclear. One myth that Geroge Jessel perpetuated was that he whipped up the tomato juice and vodka cocktail when hungover in Palm Beach, and socialite Mary Brown Warburton happened to walk by, try the drink, and spill it on her white dress; she laughed and said that he could call her Bloody Mary. Others suggest that Queen Mary I inspired the red drink's name with the red being reminiscent of the executed protestants. And another legend is that it's named after a waitress that Petiot met in a Chicago saloon nicknamed the Bucket of Blood