The story behind new Sacramento® Bloody Mary Mix is an important one, both in quality and customer satisfaction.

Sacramento Tomato Juice has been the gold standard for upscale bars, steak houses, and restaurants for decades. Its rich, tomato flavor is superb, even when diluted by ice and vodka. Thus, when the R&D team at Red Gold®, the makers of Sacramento, was tasked with improving the brand’s bloody mary mix, it was a tall order.

The company employed some of the top bartenders in America to test a variety of formulas to create a mix that would outperform the top brands in America in great taste and performance. The result was a bloody mary mix with the mouth feel, flavor and ingredient particulate that rivals any made from scratch without the inconsistencies of a new, untrained, or maverick bartender who thinks he or she would like to experiment on customer guinea pigs. It’s so good we are offering you a sample for free!

Yet there are other reasons why serving the best bloody mary (or selling the new bloody mary mix in a liquor store) can result in happier customers and it involves a little science.

While there is no medical benefit for consuming vodka, tomatoes contain the electrolytes sodium and potassium, the antioxidant vitamin C, and a whole host of vitamins, such as lycopene and vitamins B6. Vitamin B6 is one of the few remedies to have been shown to reduce the effects of hangover. So, if at a morning brunch customer notes that they are suffering from the previous night’s binge, perhaps offer them a virgin bloody mary.

Additionally, one of Sacramento Bloody Mary Mix’s ingredients is jalapeno puree that includes capsaicin. It triggers a pathway in the brain designed specifically to allow us to detect burning, spicy sensations. Alcohol triggers the exact same channel. It explains why high-proof alcohol leaves a burning, tingly sensation on the tongue. As for horseradish? The pungent mustard in horseradish activates another channel which itself is responsible for detecting "irritant" and pain sensations. Thus, a great bloody mary triggers receptors that can mask the taste bud impact of high alcohol vodka, no matter the quality of the vodka.

Lastly, a fun fact. A Cornell University study found that the best drink on an airplane is a bloody mary. The umami flavor elicited by a bloody mary is triggered inside a plane at altitude by a combination of the dryness within the cabin, the noise of the jet and low pressure. Next time you take a trip, ask for a Sacramento Bloody Mary.