Naked Jay Vodka: recipe for Slippery Tomato for Pickle Day

When I was growing up in Moscow (Russia, not Idaho), my dad took my sister and me swimming on Sundays. Occasionally we'd also go to the gym prior to swimming. I was never a fan of either activity (to this date I don't like gyms). Going swimming on Sundays meant Anna and I would miss out on American cartoons shown on TV: another childhood sadness.

As a reward for swimming, however, my dad let Anna and me choose either a milk shake or tomato juice on our way back home. I bet 99.9% percent of you would have chosen a milk shake, right? Well, not me. I often went for the tomato juice.

I guess I was an unconventional kid.

Whenever people find out I grew up in Russia, some of them ask about my family's consumption of vodka, possible ties to Russian mafia/KGB, etc. They are often disappointed when I tell them that my family really doesn't drink much and no, we did not add vodka to our cereal in the morning. Shocking, right?

When I received a few miniature bottles of Naked Jay Vodka to try, I thought they were cute, but they sat on my kitchen counter for months. It wasn't until I received a recipe from Naked Jay Vodka for Slippery Tomato, that I decided to open one of the bottles and try it out.

Supposedly today, November 14th, is National Pickle Day! I love pickles (and anything pickled), and was intrigued by the Slippery Tomato recipe because  it used Big Dill vodka, something I've never tried before.

Slippery Tomato

Ingredients

1.57 ounces of Naked Jay Dill Pickle Vodka

3 ounces tomato juice

1/2 ounce olive juice {from a jar of olives}

2 dashes Worcestershire sauce

2 dashes celery salt

2 dashes black pepper

Notes: I did not have celery salt, but I happened to have celery seeds, so I mashed them and added a bit of salt to make my own celery salt. I also added a bit more of the olive juice and some lemon juice to brighten up the drink.

Directions
1. Combine all ingredients, pour into a glass, and garnish with a pickle slice {I used a pickle spear, an olive and a celery stick}.

I'm typically not a fan of Bloody Mary drinks, but this one had a smoky taste to it and wasn't overly salty or peppery. I ended up pouring it over ice cubes and drinking it while cleaning my condo and getting ready for a lamb pizza dinner party {more on that later}. I was one happy girl!

If you are not a fan of tomato juice, here's a recipe for Dirty Pickle  from Naked Jay Vodka:
2 ounces Naked Jay Dill Pickle Vodka
1/2 ounce dry vermouth
1/4 ounce olive juice
Build on the rocks, stir and garnish with a speared gherkin.

About Naked Jay Vodka: Naked Jay Vodka is manufactured by the Sazerac Company, based in New Orleans, LA. In September, Naked Jay Vodka introduced two new flavors: Naked Jay Big Dill and Naked Jay Whip Cream. These vodkas are distilled four times and are exclusively available to the state of Virginia. The company's slogan is "Meet the vodak that's not afraid to bare it all."

Note:  I received this product free of charge but was not in any other way compensated for this post. All opinions are my own.