How to Make Perfect Caesar Cocktail - Canada's National Cocktail

Photo: Chatelaine

Caesar – Canadian cocktails with tomato juice and spicy vodka decorated with pickle and olive garnish on stone slate background on a rustic table. Summer drinks and alcoholic cocktails.

Origins of the Caesar Drink

The caesar is much like a bloody mary except we use Clamato juice – a strange concoction of clam and tomato juice. It’s also very similar to the michelada in Mexico, which is also a hangover cure.

But surprisingly the caesar was inspired by Italy, as cited by Baconismagic.

Walter Chell created the caesar recipe in 1969 as a signature drink for the opening of a new Italian restaurant in Calgary. The caesar drink was meant to reflect the flavours of spaghetti alla vongole – spaghetti with clams and tomato sauce.

Walter Chell. Photo: The Globe and Mail

Ingredients for your Caesar

- 3 dashes Worcestershire sauce: A fermented condiment used to enhance savoury food and drinks. Essentially bottled umami, according to Jo Cooks.

Photo: The Kitchn

- 3 oz Clamato juice: The star, the foundation on which our cocktail desires are built, the mighty but humble Clamato. A combination of tomato and clam juice. Don’t be scared of it, there’s a reason this cocktail is a national treasure and clamato is that reason.

- 1 - 3 dashes hot sauce

- ice

- 1 oz vodka: The flavours here are so strong that the taste profile of nice vodka will get completely lost.

- salt and pepper

- celery, pickles, olives, bacon or a slider (optional garnishes)

Directions

1. Start by mixing the ingredients, but before you start pouring, please note that the order of ingredients does matter!

Photo: LCBO

2. In a rimmed glass filled with ice, add the Worcestershire sauce, followed by Clamato juice, hot sauce, vodka, and then season with salt and pepper. An easy way to remember the order of ingredients is to start with the cheaper ones and work your way up.

3. When it comes to the garnish, here’s your time to be creative. Go the conventional route with a long piece of celery, or grab a skewer and make a combo with pickles and olives. But if you’re really looking to earn some extra points, add a piece of bacon, or better yet, a juicy slider burger.

Some tips

1. If you are not on speaking terms with vodka, gin or tequila are perfectly good substitutions.

2. Rim your glass! Before adding any ice, place a lime wedge with a slit cut in the middle on the rim of the glass and slide it around the rim full circle, then dip the glass head down in powdered Caesar rim, proudly displayed in most Canadian grocery stores right near the front door.

Photo: Thillist

Storage

This Caesar mix recipe can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 6 days.

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