You'd think a cocktail with a name as excellent as the Bullshot would be on every bar menu in America. It is not. In fact, good luck even finding a bartender in your locale with a stash of beef bouillon or consommé behind the tap. Believe me, I've tried. But back in the middle of the 20th Century, this golden concoction was everywhere, and you knew it was cool by the people who made it their drink of choice. Malcolm McDowell. Joan Crawford. Richard Chamberlain. And nowadays, when bartenders and amateur booze enthusiasts alike are experimenting with myriad creative ways to get their next buzz, the O.G. Bullshot may just be primed for another heyday.
So what the heck is it? Simply put, the Bullshot is a Bloody Mary that swaps out the tomato juice for beef broth. According to the Guardian, a mix of vodka and beef consommé kept in a warm Thermos has long been a boozy way for Britons to beat the winter chill, but sipping it cold? A different story altogether.
Writing for the Daily Beast, David Wondrich credits Detroit's Caucus Club in the 1950s as a genesis point: The owner, Lester Gruber, struck up a convo with an ad man from BBDO named John Hurley. Hurley was on the Campbell's account, and he was having trouble finding a way to market the brand's canned beef broth. Heads were put together, and the Bullshot was born.
For the next few decades, the cocktail stayed en vogue—McDowell even famously ordered one while making his press rounds for A Clockwork Orange—before inexplicably disappearing in the 1980s. It has rarely been heard from since.
An old Campbell's "Soup on the Rocks" ad scanned from Ogilvy on Advertising has been popping up as a meme lately (Google it), and with it, a whole new generation has learned that not long ago, people were looking for ways to drink their beef juice cold. Adding vodka just seems like the natural next step.
This recipe is how we take ours.
