Clancy's Pub, 72nd and Pacific, Omaha

I received a text that said something about hoping I find a bloody mary that night.... and then another text from a different person with similar wishes, and then another. Yeah it was my birthday but I would hate to disappoint so many people (3) and not have a bloody mary. I had the opportunity to meet a few fine people and so Omaha became the spot and there is never anything wrong with some Clancy's bar cuisine. I really was hoping their bloody's were good too. Fingers crossed...

Appearance: 4/10 It's red, a few floaties annnd thats about it. No trendy glass, nothing on the rim. No music being played when it was delivered. Maybe I'm expecting too much in appearances. Did you know I'm single as well? Sensing a theme here...

Garnishes: 3/10 Oh neat, a green olive! Upon finishing the drink I discovered another green olive helplessly trapped under the ice cubes as well as a lifeless looking lemon... lemon? yeah a lemon. The one thing I did kind of like was the dusting of pepper on top. You can kind of see it in the picture as it slightly covers the olive. Maybe a small volcano erupted or the brick oven was spewing ash in the kitchen? Or perhaps the barmaid didn't mix anything in...? 

Spice/Bang: 4/10 I had a nice discussion with my tablemates about including chugability as a category but I can't change things now. However, sometimes I want that chugability in a bloody if I'm really looking to slap on a seatbelt for the night. This had nice chugability. There was little to no spice, a decent tomato taste and thats about it. There wasn't any vodka taste which is nice I guess. 

Desire: 4/10 Am I craving one right now? You bet. Would I go to Clancy's to quench this thirst? Nope, probably would try out a new habenero bloody mix I picked up at the local HyVee... Have you been to a HyVee? My goodness they are great! Anyway I would get a bloody mary if I was already in Clancys.

Price: 3/10 $5.50 Now some of you might be saying "What does he expect?" Honestly for this drink I think $4.05 would have been the ideal price. Decent size but isn't 20 ounces. Decent flavor. Nothing special as a garnish that would cost more and most likely skol or something as vodka.

Overall: 18/50 Pretty disappointing really. However Clancy's is an Irish pub so I can't fault them too much. Maybe they make a mini reuben and put it as a garnish... or.. or... they have these sauerkraut eggroll things that would be awesome as a garnish. I hope you are listening Clancy's... The possibilities are endless! Wait! What about some corned beef on a stick! yes please.

Big Red Keno, Fremont

Ahh... a Saturday with not much going on, Nebrasketball in the afternoon, sounds like a great day to find a bloody mary. I had sampled a bloody at Keno before and I thought it was pretty good but of course I had to do it for real. I ordered a spicy one and Nate ordered the regular one. Game on.

Appearance: 3/10 Trendy with the frosty mug but the red was a poor color and there was zero floaties to be found. A let down already.

Garnishes: 2/10 The salted rim was a nice touch. There was supposed to be a pickle in it but it was a limp 2 inch green thing so I'm not even sure you can call it a pickle. Bad.

Spice/Bang: 3/10 I like tabasco sauce and I think it serves as a nice addition but if I want to drink straight tabasco sauce I'll go ahead and order that. The only flavor I got out of the entire thing was tabasco. Nose watering tongue singing. Great for a few drinks but then kind of annoying. I wish I could have tasted some tomato or worchestire or even lime. The regular one was straight vodka and tomato juice, more along the lines of a vodka taste. Not good according to Nate.

Desire: 2/10 Keno has some great food but don't plan on going for a bloody mary unless they have a new recipe in place. 

Price: 4/10 $3.75 Not cheap but not expensive. If the bloody had good flavor then it would be a good deal, however I would not pay more than the 75 cents we won in keno for the bloody we were served. 

Overall: 14/50 Another disappointment in Fremont. No wonder there wasn't a whole lot of people there on a Saturday noon slamming BM's. If you whip out a good one, the people will come. 

Applebees, Fremont

Half apps seem to get me more often than not... cheapish food at a late night hour is unfair to those who are treading the waters of near legal obesity. I made this trip for business purposes only. It certainly wasn't because I was mentally and physically destroyed in a game of ping pong and needed a cold one... I asked the barmaid if they bloodys were mixes or homemade and she replied "mixes, you want something else..?" Not a good start for the 'bees. I didn't see the brand of mix but it came out looking something like this....

Appearance: 4/10 It seemed to have an awkward red color, not juicy tomato color or tainted with seasonings color but a fake red color. There weren't really any floaties and it just was blah.

Garnishes: 3/10 Olives and lime. I honestly don't remember if there were two olives or not but at least they were included. The lime is almost a buzz kill now, a real space-taker-upper. Applebee's once put cinnamon and sugar on a beer glass rim for me and they don't add salt or anything to the ever classy bloody mary? Lame

Spice/Bang: 3/10 There was a certain spiciness to the bloody that I thought was a nice touch, but the roommate thought it had a bit of a burn to it. That was about all I tasted. Not much for tomato or vodka or anything else. Seemed to have thinness to it, not much of anything. 

Desire: 2/10 No more bloody mary's at Applebee's. Eating good in the neighborhood is kinda catchy but notice they don't ever talk about their drinks... It's for good reason! 

Price: 2/10 $6.75 for this incredibly dull glass of red liquid is way too much. Even for the "neighborhood bar" or the upscale bars in Fremont this isn't a good deal at all. If I was getting a slider on a stick in the drink then we are talking! Have you had Applebee's sliders by the way? Tasty little morsels. 

Overall: 14/50 Yikes. It has been noted that Applebee's is not known for their bloody mary's and that trend will probably continue. Good half apps, bad bloodys, case closed. Cheers! 

Tin Lizzy, Fremont

Once upon a time on a Thursday night, it was deemed very necessary to head to a watering hole to catch some live music. You see I was sent on a quest to check out the talent as a few of us are looking for a lead singer. It just so happened I had a couple of buddies going as well and the bar happened to have all of the supplies they deemed necessary to make the bloody mary. A homemade bloody mary was ordered and the barmaid insured me that every blood mary was made special because they were made by her.. Of course! Before I go on I must say that the live music, The GoodTime Boys, were great!

Appearance: 6/10 Besides the spillage the barmaid did apologize for the bloody looked pretty tasty. A solid, robust, red color, a few floaties (mainly pepper but oh well), but no salted rim. It looked pretty inviting!

Garnishes: 6/10 I have to get used to this Nebraska thing where there is rarely pepperoncinis. I miss Colorado for that reason.. However, 5 green olives do wonders for me and a small dill pickle. Cute but flavorful! Still... another bar with no meat in my drink. 

Spice/Bang: 4/10 The flavor was not bad. In fact it was almost quenching, perhaps some gatorade or electrolytes were added? It was like I opened a can of V8 and simply drank that. I do like V8 and can chug that stuff, I could've chugged this and sometimes thats a decent quality to have. No spice to be found however therefore not much bang. Nothing bad about this drink just nothing good! Average

Desire: 4/10 I don't plan on making my way to Tin Lizzy's specifically for the bloody and I don't plan on having one if I'm there unless it's in the morning. Just not a lot to write home about or if someone were writing a blog, there isn't a whole lot of flavor profiles to blog about. 

Price: 5/10  Folks.... I forgot to ask the barmaid and the receipt didn't have the drink(s)(sss?) I ordered split up. But in the scheme of things it seemed to be pretty standardly priced. The total tab wasn't too bad so life is good!  

Overall: 25/50 Average drink but great chugability if you are in to that. Cheers! 

The Library Sports Bar and Brewery, Winter Park, CO

Another day skiing in Winter Park and if you are curious, I absolutely had another bloody mary on top of the mountain. Absolutely delicious. The end. But like any good explorer I had to expand my horizons and try somewhere else. I wanted to be a good boy and make mother proud so of course I went to the Library. It just so happens this library has food and beverages... I like these libraries! The bar was packed due to the Patriots/Ravens game but while we waited I snuck to the bar to order a bloody. I think I counted 4 different unlabeled squeeze bottles that were squirted into the drink. I know one of them was pickle juices because there were pickles floating in it. Finally a splash of tomato juice was added, I'm not exaggerating... there wasn't much room for the tomato. Interesting.

Appearance: 5/10 The weak red would be real questionable if I didn't see that most of the drink was clear liquids with a dabble of tomato. Some nice floaties in the bottom but nothing that screams drink me! Average appeal.

Garnishes: 5/10 I like that Colorado consistently includes pepperoncinis as a garnish. The two green olives are a nice touch, twice as nice in fact. Nothing else though and that's a real bummer. What happened to pickles? Celery? Salted Rim? Bacon? Anything? Make the dang bloody unique!

Spice/Bang: 5/10 The overall flavor was pretty average but it really had a nice spice to it. I did get the spicy version so one would hope it was spicy....  There wasn't a consistent flavor though, lots of different profiles in each drink and i'm not sure thats good. I missed the rich tomato flavor.

Desire: 4/10 If this is what going to the library is coming to then I suppose I can handle them. If I happen to be in Winter Park and at the library then I probably will order one but I'm not going out of my way, average is average.

Price: 6/10 Honestly, $6 for a bloody mary in a resort town is really a pretty good deal. It caught me off guard in a good way.

Overall: 25/50 I think I've used the word average too many times in this review but I believe 25/50 is the epitome of average. I didn't even plan for the numbers to add up to that. Don't go out of your way for this when in Winter Park but it'll do the trick in an emergency. I was on vacation anyway so I'm not complaining.

Hernando's Pizza and Pasta Pub, Winter Park

If you haven't heard my rave reviews about the bloody at the top of Winter Park resort you should check it out. I can still taste the glorious tomatoey goodness with a delightful spice complex. After a nice hot tub sit and a couple of palette cleansing Busch Lights we headed out to get some chow. All of the reviews online sent us toward Hernando's Pizza, not for the bloody marys but for the Pizza silly. I asked the server if they had bloody mary's and he replied with a convincing, oh yeah. He also said it was a mix but didn't know what kind. Neato... and then he delivered the beverage and stated that everything was being homemade tonight... yay!

Appearance: 5/10 Really average presentation. I had really high expectations and yes it let me down but to be fair it wasn't horrible. No salt on the rim, decent color, no dead cat's floating in it. It looked edible. A few floaties but not many. 

Garnishes: 4/10 Pepperoncini, green olive and a wimpy attempt at a celery stalk. I will say these pepperoncini things are growing on me, a little bit of spice, some saltiness and very juicy. Nothing special with this bm though. 

Spice/Bang: 2/10 What flavor? What spice? What a disappointment. I couldn't put my finger on the flavor but it wasn't good. Crappy vodka taste was the main component and some lime. There was no spice, no tomato flavor... really nothing at all. I'm not sure I finished the drink before I finished the pizza. That's saying something...

Desire: 1/10 Absolutely I will get the pizza again but never the bloody. I usually don't have to work through a drink but this one I did. I added red pepper to mine, more pepper, salt and whatever else on the table that may give the drink some blasted flavor.

Price: 3/10 $5 Not a terrible price but for a terrible drink it's much too high. I'm tired of thinking about this one. A huge disappointment. 

Overall: 15/50 If you must, go for the pizza, stay for the pizza and don't order a bloody mary. Worthless. 

Lunch Rock, Top of Winter Park Resort, Colorado

Holy gorgeous day. Blue skies everywhere, gorgeous mountain views and some nice corduroy. We attacked the mountain early so it was important to reward ourselves for trying hard, only breathing kind of heavy and well, we were on vacation. A drink or two on the mountain always seems to taste extra good and yes we still skied under control. Going into the bar I was expecting a big price. I mean our lunch was ridiculous so why wouldn't the bloody? Let's just say Winter Park didn't disappoint....

Appearance: 7/10 Anything at the top of the mountain looks good and this picture doesn't do it justice. When we were presented the bloody it was separated, the tomato juice sat on top of the vodka and lime juice combination. A little stirring brought everything together and there were little floaties in the glass. Good stuff.

Garnishes: 6/10 The classic lime, a giant celery, one green olive and a pepperoncini. There wasn't any salt around the rim, no bacon, no meat of any kind and the presentation itself was less than marvelous. Still, it got the job done.

Spice/Bang: 9/10 A delightful flavor. Very similar to Zing Zang. Complex, tomatoey, spicy. A certain richness that teased the senses and tickled the tongue. Fantastic. 

Desire: 9/10 Perfect for the situation. Absolutely I will be sampling another one and I will make it a point to get one each time skiing at Winter Park. You should too. The flavor was really good. Seriously. 

Price: 8/10 $11 for this bad boy but remember it's at the top of a mountain and it's a 20 oz drink and this one was a double shot. Did I order a double shot but apparently I needed one because that's what the guy gave us. I'm not complaining here. Given the circumstances, what a deal!

Overall: 39/50 A great bloody mary at a great place with an even better view! The complete taste in this drink was fantastic and something I'll try for quite a while to find again. If you ever find yourself at Winter Park, head up to lunch rock at the top of the mountain and order yourself a bloody. You won't regret it.

J's Steakhouse, Fremont

A second cold day in two years. Never heard of them previously. I like it though. I like it a lot. That being said I had to take the opportunity to knock at least one review out. J's Steakhouse and Winebar is a great little place, fancy food and anything you want to drink all at pretty reasonable prices really and a fancy upscale feel. I was excited about this bloody. Good chance for a great drink! I was about the only one in there although I didn't get a snoop in on all of the ingredients. I was asked if I wanted it spicy (yes) and I did find out one thing... zing zang mix! 

Appearance: 7/10 Although it's not the biggest one ever when it appeared at my table I was immediately excited! A pretty salted rim and a gorgeous red body with floaties! 

Garnishes: 4/10 The salt on the rim was a nice addition and the standard green olives and lime was present but that was about it. The lime appeared to be pretty old but I'm getting used to that being common. 

Spice/Bang: 7.5/10 A nice solid flavor and it let me know each time I took a sip. Good flavor (zing zang does that every time!) and great tabasco additions with a few other additions. A nice robust flavor complex. The salt on the rim contributed nicely! 

Desire: 7/10 I would definitely order another one and visit again to order a tasty bloody. Is it going to be the top on my list, probably not but it's a nice solid, go to bloody. 

Price: 8/10 With the upscale bar I was thinking the drink would be 6ish... nope $3.21. I don't think it was a special or happy hour, just a good deal! Not as big as the others I have tried but really a nice price!

Overall: 33.5/50. The best review to date. The complexity of flavors and the robust explosion in my mouth led me to almost order another... (1:30 in the afternoon). Great presentation and good to the last drop! I recommend it to anyone and the place is trendy especially if you get J's chips. Check it out! 

LA Fireproof Door, Fremont

Decided I could sneak one more review for the night before my tasting pallet would start to desensitize. I was excited about the Door. I've been here a few times but never had a bloody. They are advertised as $3 on Sundays and if these bloody's were good, well, we may have a problem... I had a prime seat, right at the bar at the bloody mary making station. Start with a smallish glass, rim of salt(!), skol vodka, good amount of worchestire, wee amount of pepper, salt and some other seasoning, tabasco, and tomato juice. Top with green olive and lime and......

Appearance: 5/10 The salt on the rim does so much for the appearance. Looks like a complete drink. I think I mixed it a little more after I took this picture so the worchestire wasn't just at the bottom. The color wasn't great and there wasn't any floaty spices.

Garnishes: 2/10 Two or less and I could care-a-less.  Neat single olive and at least I could tell this was a lime. 

Spice/Bang: 3/10 Another disappointment. I understand people either want to save money or be trendy and make them homemade but if you can't hang and offer some bang then gosh dang! Another tomato juice with a hint of vodka. Mixes are made for a reason. When in doubt use Zing Zang...! Something was missing. I suppose I could've loaded up with more tabasco but I didn't. I only had the salt around the rim for so long and then I lost that goodness. 

Desire: 2/10 Thank goodness I came away feeling let down. Sundays will not be spent at the door! Do I plan on ordering another one sometime? Nahhh Not terrible but really average. 

Price: 5/10 $4.50 for this bad boy. Not the worst price but the size was pretty small.. and the flavor was pretty small... Worth the $3 special price on Sundays...? Go for it. If you need that bloody on a sunday then you get that bloody! 

Overall: 17/50 Very very standard bloody. A bit more love into the drink may result in something special but for now we will call it.... nice try. 

Sempeck's Bowling Alley Bar, Twisterz, Elkhorn

I had received word that school was indeed canceled this next day, the ever rare "cold" day. I decided to take the opportunity to try to sneak in a couple more bloody reviews and I did just that. This is an important one because a lot of people go bowling and sometimes in the morning or afternoon, prime bloody drinking time! I asked the bartender what was in their bloody and he didn't have a clue but went to find out. The answer... Mr. and Mrs. T bloody mix. Dangg. You will learn something about me here... I'm not a huge fan. It's very watery it seems and just not much flavor. I immediately was concerned for this bloody.

Appearance: 3/10 Good looking glass of tomato juice... Two straws are a nice touch. There wasn't any floating spices or anything in the glass and that is kinda concerning. Where the heck is the flavor going to come from?

Garnishes: 3/10 I had to ask my table mates Wyatt and Ben if it was a lemon or a lime on the rim. Seriously. It was the oddest color of greeyellow I've seen. Two green olives on a mini sword were trendy and then that was it.

Spice/Bang: 3/10 If I wanted a glass of tomato juice I would've ordered that. Alas, I maybe tasted a bit of well vodka in there so it wasn't just tomato juice. There really wasn't any spice or bang to the drink.

Desire: 2/10 If I'm bowling because of the bloodys... could happen..... I'm not going here. Disappointed in the drink. Really, there was nothing in the drink that made me tingle or feel a thing.

Price: 2/10 $6 I have to be honest. I don't think $6 would be a terrible price for this size of bloody, but the blasted bloody better do something for me!! This was a red vodka with wimpy lime.

Overall: 13/50 Coming from Shevy's I had my hopes up. Was looking for a bit more pizazz and bang but was very disappointed. May as well order their beer towers instead if you are bowling.

Shevy's Bloody, Elkhorn

I have to admit, I was very excited to get my first review in but at the same time extremely nervous. What if I'm too critical or I can't find anything to say? How many questions do I ask the bartender without giving my purpose away? Needless to say all things went well and the bloody spoke to me.

Homemade Bloody Mary: The bloody was listed on the menu as a a homemade bloody with BACON  yet I still asked the waitress politely what was all in it. She replied with a simple "Oh I make it homemade and everything is in it." Neato. I didn't creep to see what was actually in it but here is how it showed up...

Appearance: 4/10 Anything with bacon in gets automatic points but not when it appears like this. 2 green olives and a tiny pickle were also floating in the bloody, not on a stick or anything. The color was ok but the bits of black pepper were few and far between. Uneven mixing it appears. 

Garnishes: 5/10 The bacon was 4 limp inches, barely getting the tip wet in the bloody. Hard to get much flavor there. The two green olives were a nice touch but floating aimlessly and the pickle... oh the pickle was the weakest attempt at a pickle on this side of the appalachian trail. 

Spice/Bang: 4/10 I was not asked if I like it spicy or not and therefore figured there wasn't going to be much spice. Right again. Very minimal flavor. Heavy on the standard tomato juice, light on the good stuff like worchestire, horseradish, tabasco, seasoning salt or whatever else they could've put in there.  It drank like water, kinda concerning. 

Desire: 4/10 Was it to the point where I wouldn't order another one here..? No, thats sillyness, but I'm not about to go out of my way to get one especially when I can do much better at home. 

Price: 5/10 This baby was $5. Not crazy, not really that cheap but for the drink itself, it might have been over priced. I could've gotten 2 busch lights for that amount! 

Overall: 22/50 I'm assuming it won't be the worst I'll ever have and I admit I still drank it pretty quick but just didn't do much for me. If it had a full grown chunk of bacon in there and a bit more spice, things would've gotten turned up pretty quick! 

The Background.....

Hey folks... we all are secret bloody mary lovers at some point in our lives and at the same time we all have said I'm never having a bloody mary again. But then it happens. and again and again and again. Sometimes we all need an excuse to indulge in a bloody and this blog is just that. A chance for a couple of brothers to share some bloody mary delight and to browse the bloody mary selections of Omaha, Fremont, Lincoln and wherever else we find ourselves sipping (or chugging) bloody marys.

The important part is our rating scale. There are 5 categories, each worth 10 points for a total of a perfect 50. Please note that every person has different ideas and you may think we are the dumbest of douches but that's cool, when in doubt drink it out.  We will always get the "cheapest" vodka or whatever comes standard and more likely than not, the spicy kind if offered. We will not inform the bartender to make it extra special as we want what the classic customer will get. Depending on the day we may try every thing offered....

1. Appearance: comments on the bloody is at arrives in our hands. Does it look like something we want to drink, stare at or pass off to the next person. This is more important then some may think.

2. Garnishes: we may not be super snoopy at what goes into it but this will also include garnishes. The more the merrier in my opnion.

3. Spice/Bang: Appropriate amount of flavor and spice will be discussed here. More spice doesn't necessarily mean a higher score.

4. Desire: How much do we want another one, or three? The important part of a bloody mary's success is if people want to come back to get the same thing again.

5. Price: Cheap isn't always great but expensive always blows, especially if planning on binge drinking these bad boys!

There will always be additional comments considering things we find important. Does the Mary get rid of said hangover or problem or quench the thirst? We will always have something to say.

No idea how often we will post but it should be worth checking back every other week or so... Who knows! If you come across something we should try, please let us know. Until next time.... Cheers!