This review was the first ever published by Bloody Mary Tour on January 9, 2015.

Now I will get to my first review featuring the Sassafras Bloody Mary at Sassafras Eatery in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Sassafras is a restaurant focusing on southern comfort food that is prepared with local and organic ingredients.

I waltzed into the newest Sassafras location in Denver (there is an older one across the highway that doesn’t serve cocktails) with a few friends and anxiously waited for a table. I was super hungry, super hungover, and super eager to get a drink. We finally sat down and ordered some drinks. I went with the Sassafras Bloody Mary– for the restaurant’s namesake– and it was pretty damn good. I ordered the breakfast mac to pair with the Bloody Mary, which consisted of bacon, an egg over-easy, and grit croutons, atop a bowl of nice and creamy mac and cheese.

AT A GLANCE 18/20

The Sassafras Bloody Mary was served in a little mason jar and sported a nice red color. The garnish was not the most bountiful, but it worked. The bacon salt on the rim of the jar was aesthetically pleasing and looked quite tasty. The Bloody Mary had a clean appearance.

GARNISH 16/20

The garnish consisted of a pickled quail egg, bacon, and a lemon. The Garnish was quite tasty, but lacked fresh vegetables, which I think is essential when garnishing a Bloody Mary. It was an attractive garnish, especially due to the cute little quail egg. This also gave the Bloody creativity points (I’ve never seen a Bloody Mary garnished with a quail egg before!). All in all, the garnish was delicious. I love bacon and I love all things pickled, but I believe this garnish needed an equalizer, like a stalk of celery or a pepper. The bacon salt on the rim of the jar was thoroughly enjoyable in accompaniment with each sip of the drink I had.

SPICE 19/20

The spice of this Bloody Mary was close to perfect. It was quite complex and delectable, while not being too spicy that I had to chase it with water. It was a happy level of spice.

TEXTURE & ACIDITY 19/20

Also close to perfect. The Bloody Mary was not acidic and I did not feel like I was going to get heartburn after drinking it. The texture was smooth and easily drinkable– the drink was not diluted, nor was it too thick.

UNIQUENESS 16/20

The Sassafras Bloody Mary, overall, was not too unique, but it definitely set itself apart from a classic Bloody Mary. It was garnished with bacon, which a lot of Bloody Marys tend to be garnished with (not that I am complaining!). The quail egg was unique, but the entire garnish as a whole could have had more additions. The jar made it a bit more creative than Bloody Marys served in regular glasses, as well as the bacon salt on the jar’s rim. The spicing of the Bloody Mary was delicious and absolutely could be rendered a unique flavoring.

FINAL SCORE 88/100

Check out Sassafras here. Sassafras Capitol Hill is located at:

320 East Colfax Ave, Denver, CO, 80203