I have occasionally been known to indulge in a Bloody Mary as a hangover cure, or at least I used to when I was younger and habitually more adventurous of a weekend. I didn't enjoy the taste much. I like tomato juice but I feel vodka mixed in with it spoils it. I like vodka too, but I feel that tomato juice mixed in with it spoils it.... So, in short, I never thought much of Bloody Marys, until I discovered this way of doing them. It's the technique rather than the ingredients that makes them so good.
The secret is that you try not to mix the vodka and tomato juice. The vodka sits in a layer on top and is the first thing you taste (which means you should use quality vodka, rather than the stuff they sell in most supermarkets, which is really for cleaning earrings, sterilising spots on your face and stuff like that, not for drinking). The tomato juice acts as a wee chaser to the vodka, and tastes smooth and creamy as it follows the spirit down.
The first way I saw this done was as little shots. My friend Andrey pulled me aside into the kitchen at a party once and he said 'What's that horrible stuff in the jug in the living room? They said it's Bloody Mary, but it's not!' He actually said that in Russian and he swore a couple of times too, but I'm just trying to present the gist here. He then proceeded to show me how to do 'real' Bloody Marys... and that was as much as I remember of the party....
Later, I discovered that even if you order a Bloody Mary in a cocktail bar, it will be prepared in a similar fashion, even though it's in a bigger glass, with umbrellas and slices of lemon and all that. I made one for Sveta, using limes and minus the decorations, and she liked it enough to ask for another one the following evening, so I've included that recipe below, after Andrey's original one.
For shooters, it's best to keep the bottle of voddie and the tomato juice on the table and make the drinks up as you go. Half fill each shot glass with tomato juice, then take a table knife and hold it with the flat against the rim of the glass and the tip almost touching the juice. Pour vodka carefully onto the knife and it will form a layer above the juice. Stop pouring when the glass is full. Drink immediately and repeat as often as you like.
Now, for the less reckless version. It's much the same as before, but you need a bigger glass. A wide one - a whisky glass for example - is best. Fill the glass two-thirds full with tomato juice and use the technique described above to add vodka, but not right to the top. Take a quarter of a lime, squeeze a little of the juice into the glass and then drop the piece gently into the centre of the drink. That's it. Serve immediately.