Summer Cocktail: A Twist on the Standard Tomato Cocktail

No matter where you live, tomato season is a big deal. Long before the calendar says it's summer, people start stalking farmers' markets in search of the juiciest fruit in the field. In Atlanta, the JCT. Kitchen Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival is like Tomato American Idol, with 42 chefs and 16 mixologists competing for the best tomato-based dish or drink. 

Mixologist Arianne Fielder at the Atlanta restaurant Seven Lamps knows you can't serve up a regular old Bloody Mary and expect to claim the crown, so she's working on something special, like a Kimchi Mary made with fermented vegetables and soju, a barley-based spirit. 

"I've been obsessed with Korean food lately and my favorite thing to snack on is kimchi," she says. "It's the perfect mix of spicy, salty and a little bit funky." 

Fielder says the ingredients aren't as exotic as they sound: Korean chili powder and kimchi can be found at most ethnic grocery stores. 

"This is a much less thick version than most Bloody Marys," she says. "The tomato really complements the spicy and pickled flavors of the kimchi." 

Kimchi Mary

By Arianne Fielder, Seven Lamps, Atlanta, Georgia

2 ounces soju 

4 ounces Kimchi Mary mix*

Put the soju and mix in a glass and garnish with a piece of kimchi or your favorite pickle. 

*Kimchi Mary mix

14 ounces whole tomatoes, with liquid

5.5 ounces Clamato juice

6.5 ounces kimchi, with liquid

2 cloves of roasted garlic

1 ounce lime juice

.5 ounce Sriracha sauce

4 dashes soy sauce

1 pinch Korean red chili powder

1 dash sea salt

Ground black pepper to taste

Blend and strain the tomatoes, Clamato, kimchi and roasted garlic in a fine mesh strainer. Add lime juice, Sriracha, soy sauce, Korean red chili powder, sea salt and black pepper. Mix well. 

Interested in sampling even more tomato cocktails? Try these cocktails featuring tequila and heirloom tomatoes or the Pineapple Express incorporating a pineapple-tomato chutney.