With a name like Bullshot, you’d almost think the drink was concocted in Texas. Sadly, no. According to writer David Wondrich, the Caucus Club of Detroit – back in the 1950s – is credited with its beginnings. What is it? In short, it’s a Bloody Mary, but instead of tomato juice, it’s chief ingredient (besides vodka) is beef broth.
It’s not something you can walk into your average bar and find on the menu. In fact, Esquire reported that the odds of finding a bartender nowadays who is familiar with its basic elements is rare. Can you imagine the look on their face when you slide up to the bar and request a shot of consommé? But, apparently, from the ’50s through to roughly the early ’80s, the Bullshot was the popular pick-me-up. Edible Manhattan provides the list of Hollywood hotshots who subscribed to the drink regularly, bringing it into the limelight, as did the gossip columnists who followed them.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Janramwill
Key ingredients for this cocktail include:
Vodka (your call on the brand, but the better… well, the better).
Beef Broth.
Esquire published their full recipe which includes, as you would imagine, some integral components that buck up this beefy drink. A dash of this, a splash of that, and the next thing you know, you’re bellying up to the best pairing of beef and alcohol since red wine met steak! Maybe it’s had its heyday, but perhaps the latest social media postings (not to mention memes from what once were actual Campbell’s soup ads, apparently) will bring this duo of cold beef broth and vodka back into the spotlight. In a post by The Guardian, it was acknowledged that this was even a popular hot drink kept in thermoses by the British, possibly looking for a way to weather the cold winters they experienced. Who knows? But to say my curiosity wasn’t piqued by the beverage would be a mistake. I’m sampling as I type. And I predict a slight increase in the sale of beef consommé in the near future for which soup companies may not be able to source the driving force. Cheers – or maybe more apropos is the expression “Bullshot!” (I might be saying that with a couple more of these drinks!)
