The non-alcoholic Bloody Mary

A Bloody Mary is a savory drink in a sweet-and-sour world. The classic is about 1.5 to 2 oz vodka and 4 to 6 oz tomato juice, with lemon, horseradish, Worcestershire, hot sauce, celery salt and black pepper, rolled with ice and poured into a tall glass. Every bar has its own spin. Each part has a job:

• Tomato juice is the body: sweet, savory and thick.
• Lemon or lime gives acidity and freshness. It's what stops the drink from tasting like soup.
• Horseradish and hot sauce bring heat in two different places: horseradish in the nose, hot sauce on the tongue.
• Worcestershire and celery salt bring the savory, salty depth.
• Vodka adds no real flavor, but it thins the tomato, lifts the aromas and adds warmth.

So a Virgin Mary has to make up for that last line:

• More acid. Half an ounce of lemon per drink, not a squeeze.
• More seasoning. Taste it and add salt and pepper until it tastes almost too savory. Cold dulls flavor.
• Something to lift it. A savory or herbal non-alcoholic spirit puts back the "cocktail" finish. A splash of olive brine or pickle juice does a lot too.
• Roll, don't shake. Pouring the drink back and forth between two tins mixes and chills it without whipping air into the tomato, so it stays silky instead of foamy.

Bloody Mary mixes are already alcohol-free: they're sold in the mixer aisle to have vodka added. So the ready-made route is simply buying a good mix and making it better. We don't list a canned non-alcoholic Bloody Mary, but we do list four of the main bloody mary mix brands.

The best bloody mary mixes

• Zing Zang Bloody Mary Mix is seven vegetable juices, hot sauce and a spice blend, with no high-fructose corn syrup. It's savory and medium-spicy straight from the bottle, and over ice with celery and lemon it barely needs a spirit. The easy all-rounder.
• Mr & Mrs T Original Bloody Mary Mix is the bar-rail classic: tomato-forward, mild and a little sweet. It's a blank canvas, so it's the one to buy if you like adding your own horseradish, hot sauce and pickle brine.
• Charleston Mix Bold & Spicy is properly hot: rich tomato, habanero heat, Worcestershire and a clean black-pepper finish. For people who want their virgin Mary to bite back.
• McClure's Spicy Bloody Mary Mixer is built on McClure's pickle brine, so it's tangy, garlicky and dill-sharp as well as hot. It's thick enough to serve over ice as is; garnish with a pickle spear.

Whichever you buy, a few checks:

• Salt. Many mixes are very salty. If yours is, cut it with plain tomato juice and more lemon.
• Horseradish. If your mix doesn't list it, stir in a teaspoon of prepared horseradish per drink. It's the biggest single upgrade.
• Thickness. Thick mixes feel more like a meal; thin ones drink more easily. Adjust with a splash of cold water or pickle brine.

A virgin Bloody Mary recipe with Zing Zang or any mix

Pour 5 oz of Zing Zang over ice, add half an ounce of fresh lemon, a teaspoon of horseradish, a splash of olive brine and a few grinds of black pepper, then roll between two tins. Add 1.5 oz of Dhōs Vodka Free or a savory zero-proof spirit if you have one. That's it: a store mix goes from fine to very good in a minute.

Making a virgin Bloody Mary with V8

V8 is thicker and more vegetal than tomato juice, with its own salt and celery. Use it as you would tomato juice, but go lighter on the celery salt and add extra lemon. It makes a hearty, savory virgin Bloody Mary.

The vodka

There are two ways to fill the vodka slot: a zero-proof vodka that adds warmth, or a savory botanical spirit that adds lift.

• Dhōs Vodka Free is the best non-alcoholic vodka for a Bloody Mary. It's deliberately neutral, with a touch of horseradish extract for warmth, which is exactly the right note for this drink. Zero sugar and zero calories.
• CleanCo Clean V is wheat and rye with ginger, pimento and black pepper standing in for the burn. The pepper suits tomato, and it gives a spicier finish.
• Pentire Adrift is our pick for a savory Mary. It's made from rock samphire, sage and citrus from the Cornish coast, which makes it naturally savory and a little salty, and it gives a Virgin Mary a clean, coastal finish. It's the base of our house recipe.
• Monday Zero Alcohol Gin turns it into a Red Snapper, the gin Bloody Mary. Juniper, lemon and cucumber sit well with tomato, and its warming tingle stands in for the vodka's burn.
• Everleaf Marine is a botanical aperitif that's sea-fresh and savory, with bergamot and saffron. It's softer than Adrift, with a little more sweetness, and pairs well with a lighter, less spicy Mary.
• Seedlip Garden 108 is intensely green: peas, hay, spearmint and rosemary. It makes a fresh, garden-style Bloody Mary, especially with extra celery.

Other spirit swaps

• Trejo's Tequila Alternative is made to mix, with citrus, sweet roasted agave and a warm, peppery finish, and the brand names the Bloody Maria as one of its uses. It's our pick for the tequila version.
• Abstinence Cape Agave is a mezcal-style spirit of agave, African sage, mesquite and fresh jalapeño: smoky, savory and a little hot. It makes a smoky, spicy Bloody Maria that needs less hot sauce.
• Ritual Agave Spirit Alternative is another good Bloody Maria base: agave, lime and a hint of smoke.
• Ritual Whiskey Alternative brings smoke, caramel and pepper. A small amount makes a smoky, steakhouse-style Bloody Mary.

The seasoning

This is where a Virgin Mary is won or lost. Our standard per drink:

• Half an ounce of fresh lemon. Lime works, but lemon is the classic.
• A heaped teaspoon of prepared horseradish. Fresh is even better.
• Four dashes of Worcestershire sauce. Note that most Worcestershire contains anchovies, so use a vegan version if needed.
• Three dashes of hot sauce. A vinegary one keeps it bright; a smoky chipotle sauce adds depth.
• Celery salt and black pepper. Generously.
• Optional: a barspoon of olive brine or pickle juice, a pinch of smoked paprika, or a little grated fresh garlic.

The garnish

A celery stalk and a lemon wedge are all you need. Olives, pickles, pickled beans and a celery-salt rim make it more of a brunch event. Skip anything so big that it's hard to drink around.

For the rim, run a lemon wedge around the outside edge of the glass only, then roll it in celery salt mixed with a little black pepper. Keeping the salt on the outside means it doesn't fall into the drink. Use a tall glass and plenty of large ice, which melts slower than small cubes, so the last sip is as well seasoned as the first.

This is the classic Virgin Mary drink, done properly. No spirit, just careful seasoning and technique.

When you want it to taste like a cocktail, add a savory spirit. Pentire Adrift's samphire and sage give it a clean, coastal backbone, and olive brine adds salt and depth.

If it's too thick, add a splash of cold water or more lemon; if it's too mild, add horseradish before you add more hot sauce. For a cleaner, more classic version, use Dhōs Vodka Free in place of Adrift.

These are the catalogue drinks we'd pour into a Bloody Mary, from the mixes to the vodkas, savory botanicals and agave options.

• Red Snapper. The gin Bloody Mary. Use Monday gin and a little extra black pepper.
• Bloody Maria. Use Trejo's Tequila Alternative, lime instead of lemon, and a chipotle hot sauce. A Paloma's savory cousin.
• Caesar. Canada's version, made with clam-and-tomato juice and a celery-salt rim. Pentire Adrift is especially good here.
• Green Mary. Blend green tomatoes or tomatillos with cucumber and use Seedlip Garden 108.
• Tomato water. NON6 Tomato Water & Basil isn't a Bloody Mary, but it's a savory, saline wine alternative of roasted capsicum, tomato water and basil. Pour it well chilled when you want those flavors in a lighter glass.
• Bloody Mary pitcher. Mix everything except the ice the night before; the flavors improve overnight. Roll each serve over fresh ice.

Almost every bar makes a Virgin Mary, but most just leave out the vodka. Zero-proof bars tend to season theirs properly. These are worth the trip: