Saturday Sipping: Imperial Exclusive Vodka and a Bloody Mary

Saturday's Sipper is to prepare everyone for an annual, relatively unknown celebration: Red Monday. This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Bloody Mary and on Monday (December 1) there will be a great celebration throughout New York City. This is a great way to start off the week during which we will also be celebrating the 75th anniversary of Repeal Day (Friday the 5th)One of favorite vodkas for this classic drink is Imperial Exclusive Vodka, as it adds a crisp lightness to the base and is available for a great price for the quality ($30/liter). For that price you can make Bloody Marys for everyone and still have some vodka left over and some cash in your pockets.

Instead of going into the finer workings of the Bloody Mary (did it - Spicing Up Your Cocktails), let's go into the who's, why's and what's of Red Monday.

The celebration takes place in NYC because it was Fernand Petriot who came to the city in 1933 with a reputation as a fantastic French bartender. He created the famous Bloody Mary in Manhattan, originally calling it a Red Snapper - it seems "bloody" was a little too gruesome then and it wasn't until Tabasco was added that the drink took on its current name.

On December 1st, 2008 Red Monday will begin at 11:30 am in Times Square (1522 Broadway) for a Bloody Mary toast, the official proclamation of Bloody Mary Day and an honor to Petriot's granddaughter Carol Bradley. Fans of the Bloody Mary can then find Bloody Mary specials and promotions throughout the city and the rest of us may find such events in our neighborhoods over the course of the next year as the celebration continues.