We have guests coming round at the weekend and one of them only drinks bloody mary, but I've had a little practice and found that vodka and tomato juice just will not mix, it's like trying to mix oil and water.
I'd leave a spoon in the glass when you give your guest the drink.
If you follow Philandlil's recipe, don't shake too hard or too long. If you do, there'll be an emulsifying effect, and it'll end up looking like strawberry ice cream. The taste changes remarkably, too!
if you live near a branch of Lidl (the cheapy supermarket) then their tomato juice works brilliantly and doesn't do the 'strawberry ice-cream' thing! Its quite thick, almost sieved so is fairly fool-proof!
(since discovering it, i have become a bit of a Bloody Mary fiend!)
Don - Here in the USA they serve them with a celery stick with some of the little leaves at the top stuck in them sometimes - it can be used to stir. Also they sometimes rim the glass with celery seeds and/or celery salt.
BBWCHATT
The old lady in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA
The Howff in Aberdeen makes the best bloody mary's I've ever tasted:
150ml tomato juice (schweppes)
50ml stolynchaya vodka
several twists of roughly ground black pepper
a squeeze of fresh lemon juice
3 or 4 drops of worcester sauce
3 or 4 drops of tabasco
and finally a dash of Madeira wine.
The madeira wine makes a tremendous difference. Some recipes use sherry or port but believe me, the madeira suits it perfectly.