This post was originally published on April 18, 2015.
Yesterday, I had my first Bloody Mary ever at a distillery– well that I can remember! Usually I frequent happening brunch spots or crowded bars, but this time around, I went to CopperMuse Distillery in Fort Collins with my man and two friends. This place came highly recommended due to their amazing infused vodkas (I LOVE infused vodka!!!!) and, causally, their Bloody Marys. When I first took a look at the cocktail menu, I was overwhelmed by all of their enticing drinks made with a diverse array of ingredients and infusions. On the infusions list, they had more than 15 different infused vodkas to choose from– which is a good thing, but a complicated thing, because WHAT DO I CHOOSE!
Anyways, my man’s friend was working at CopperMuse in the kitchen at this time, so I asked him which infusion I should do in my CopperMuse Bloody Mary, aka the Capone. I was torn between the roasted red tomato, rosemary, and horseradish infused vodkas. He recommended I either do all three (they recommend not getting more than three different infusions in a drink) or choose the rosemary or horseradish to pair with the roasted red tomato. I went with the latter– the roasted red tomato and horseradish– to give my drink that lovely kick. And, damn, it was a good kick! The Capone was bursting with flavor and the infused vodkas have to be some of the best I have tried to date. I have never had a Bloody with more than one type of infused vodka; I pride CopperMuse for truly catering to an individual’s tastes and flavor palettes. The Capone Bloody Mary is highly recommended if you are in the Fort Collins area– you can note my reasons for this below. On a side note, the friend that was working at CopperMuse graced us with some lovely, unique dishes that he crafted, so I recommend the creative culinary delights as well!
AT A GLANCE 18/20
When I first set sights on CopperMuse’s Bloody Mary, it looked good, but nothing too special. The garnish ingredients were not lacking, nor were they abundant. The color was a nice red hue and celery salt coated the rim of the glass. The glass was a bit unclean due to some liquid on the outer sides of the glass, but that did not take away too many points for attractiveness.
GARNISH 17/20
CopperMuse’s garnish consisted of a lemon, olive, green bean, and pickle with celery salt on it. Although it was not the most creative, all of the garnish ingredients tasted good. Any Bloody Mary that has a pickle in it is a Bloody good friend of mine! The celery salt addition on the pickle was nice, as well. The garnish was presented attractively; the green bean in the actual drink was a nifty surprise to find while drinking the cocktail.
SPICE 19/20
This Bloody Mary was perfectly spiced. Although Zing Zang mix was used versus a homemade mix/mix that is not commercially produced at such high volumes, the mixture of the vodka infusions, Bloody Mary mix, and two different types of hot sauces added for great layers of spice. You could see some spices floating around throughout the drink, while towards the end of my bout with the cocktail, many spices were visible at the bottom of the drink.
TEXTURE & ACIDITY 19/20
CopperMuse’s Capone Bloody Mary was a perfect, liquid texture that was popping with flavor. It was a bit acidic, which could have been due to either the horseradish infusion, Zing Zang mix, or the hot sauces, but this did not have too much of an effect on the Bloody overall.
UNIQUENESS 18/20
CopperMuse’s Capone Bloody Mary was pretty unique due to the combination of two different vodka infusions (horseradish and roasted red tomato). I have had Bloodys made with infused vodka before, but never two different types. As CopperMuse is a distillery, it obviously has the advantage of being able to mix various infusions perfectly to a T. I also love the addition of pickle juice in my Bloodys, so CopperMuse killed it on this aspect, as well. Another unique trait was that the bartender used two different types of hot sauce in the Capone– Tabasco and Sriracha– which adds for a deeper, more complex flavor, as they both individually have distinct flavors. The only thing I would suggest to CopperMuse is using a different Bloody Mary mix or making their own. Zing Zang is one of the most widely used Bloody Mary mixes around, is highly processed, and does not offer the most distinct and unique flavor. I think there are many tastier, healthier, and local mixes around that CopperMuse could use to accentuate the awesome flavor of their infused vodkas.
FINAL SCORE 91/100
Check out CopperMuse Distillery here. CopperMuse Distillery is located at:
244 N. College Ave, Fort Collins, CO, 80524