The Bloody Quest Part II: Tips On Drinking Responsibly

1. Drink in the morning

Ask anyone in Vail where you can find the best Bloody Mary and the question will almost certainly be answered with, 'The Westside Cafe.” Not only is Westside home to morning cocktails, it's also a favorite local haunt and there's usually a waiting line, even on off-peak season weekends. The menu, which boasts 8 varieties of Eggs Benedict and a breakfast burrito that's bigger than my face, is excellent, the staff is friendly and unassuming and the coffee is always flowing.

The Westside Cafe is a 'morning after' paradise and the Bloody Mary fits right in. The drink is served in a glorious glass goblet, filled to the salted rim and comes with a hefty garnish and a Fat Tire sidecar. I've admired the drink before from across the table but never had my own because, well, drinking before noon never really seemed like that great of an idea. But given the train wreck that was Bloody Quest Part I, when my friend Alise and I thought it wise to drink at Happy Hour, I decided that I might as well give morning drinking a try.

Unfortunately, the Westside Cafe Bloody Mary can be summed up as such: DISAPPOINTMENT. Check it out: 

Ambiance Out of 5	Appearance Out of 5	Garnish Out of 5	Flavor Out of 5	Spice Out of 5	Overall Out of 10
5	4.5	Content: 4 Quality: 3.5	2	1	5
Westside is where the locals hang, nuf said.	This is a drink for the gods, the glass is huge, full of garnish goodies and comes with a side car	Varies but between us we got olives, corn, pickles, onion, bacon, spicy peppers and celery	Ahh the downfall…it just gets too watered down with all the ice! Needs more flavor baby!	On the plus side, there are 4 diff varieties to choose from: go with the Spicy and it goes up to 3	Only because we like Westside so much, but at $9.95, I’ll probably stick to coffee

So, in the end we decided to give the Westside Bloody an overall score of 5 out of 10, and that's only because it looks so cool, comes with a side car and you get to drink it along with some killer chai flavored pancakes. Plus, if you come in with your sweatpants, flat hair and bags under your eyes, no one thinks anything of it! 

 2. Drink with a meal

 A few days later, the Quest led us to Tavern on the Gore. It was an optimistically sunny March afternoon and we decided to sit on the deck and have lunch while we judged the bar Bloody. So in addition to a tasty sandwich and flavorful clam chowder, we also enjoyed a smooth cocktail, which, at a score of 7.5 out of 10, passed our quality test with ease. 

Ambiance Out of 5	Appearance Out of 5	Garnish Out of 5	Flavor Out of 5	Spice Out of 5	Overall Out of 10
4	3	Content: 1.5 Quality: 3	4	1	7.5
Sunny day, deck by the creek? Yes, please Tavern on the Gore	Tasty looking spices suspended in a thick looking concoction	Lime, olive, peppercini, no lemon! Alise is incensed!	There’s some definite cocktail sauce going on here, but it’s got flavor without over powering	If you like a Bloody, but don’t like em so hot, this drink is for you!	The high score only applies for sunny warm days when you can sit outside. $10 for a solid drink thumbs up

 

 3. When you've already had a couple, try sharing!

 Later this same week, Alise and I went out with a friend and ended up at the Ore House. Both a couple of beers in, we decided we should Quest the Bloody, but also knew that one more drink might not be the best path to an early night in and a vibrant morning the next day. So, we decided to split one. A good thing too, since the Ore House Bloody Mary was not that impressive. 

Ambiance Out of 5	Appearance Out of 5	Garnish Out of 5	Flavor Out of 5	Spice Out of 5	Overall Out of 10
3	2	Content: 2 Quality: 3	2	3	4.5
Ore House inh Good view of Bridge Street Local tourist meet up	Short with no salt rim, already not excited to try this drink	Olive, lemon lime. Alise is happy with the citrus, I wish I had a pickle	The drink is a bit rough with a bitter finish and horseradish flavor	It is spicy…I guess	The nice thing is at $7 we didn’t waste too much money. Thumbs down

The Bloody Quest: Part I

I woke up the morning after with the worst hang-over I have EVER had in my life. And this includes college, where I—though admittedly, was the nerd who spent Sunday afternoons working on extra-curricular science projects in the lab—also spent a considerable amount of Friday nights in an alcohol induced faze resulting in Saturday morning questionnaires to answer the supremely mysterious question, “What did I do last night?”