National Bloody Caesar Day

Did you know there are 11 liquor-related holidays in May? That ties the month with July, likely due to Memorial Day and Independence Day, both popular for summer celebrations. One of those holidays is National Caesar Day, named after the Caesar cocktail, not Julius Caesar or any historical figure. The distinctly Canadian drink was invented in 1969 by Alberta bartender Walter Chell. It’s similar to a Bloody Mary but uses Clamato — a blend of clam and tomato juice — instead of plain tomato juice.

Thinking ahead to the summer months back in February, I thought it would be amusing to run a fictional story in the form of a bartender’s tale, while lampooning the current commander in chief. After 115 days of on-again, off-again tariffs and unpredictable executive orders, maybe we all could use a drink — and a laugh.

Stick It to Trump When You Next Visit Your Favorite Bar

If you want to stick it to Trump, make yourself a Bloody Caesar. Don’t be like Jerry.

Recently, a bar patron — let’s call him Jerry — slammed his empty pint glass on the counter.

“Fifteen bucks for a beer? This is robbery, Rick.”

Rick, the bartender, sighed. “I told you, Jerry. Prices went up because of tariffs. Everything’s more expensive now — hops, aluminum for cans, even the bar nuts you keep stealing.”

Jerry scoffed. “Tariffs, my ass. You’re just gouging us.”

“Nope,” Rick said, wiping down the bar. “Blame Trump’s trade war. He slapped tariffs on aluminum, China hit back with tariffs on our barley, and now —”

“Blah, blah, politics,” Jerry waved him off. “I just want my cheap beer back.”

Rick chuckled. “Funny how you didn’t mind when he said tariffs would ‘punish China,’ but now your paycheck’s getting punished instead.”

“I thought it was supposed to bring jobs back,” Jerry grumbled.

“And has it?” Rick asked.

Jerry paused, then huffed. “All I know is, last year I could get a beer for five bucks. Now I can’t even afford to get drunk properly.”

“Well,” Rick said, pouring another pint, “you could switch to domestic. But American breweries are hurting too — import costs, supply chain issues, you name it.”

Jerry groaned. “Fine. Gimme the cheapest thing you got.”

Rick grinned and slid over a tiny shot glass of beer.

Jerry frowned. “What the hell is this?”

“Tariff-sized portion,” Rick said. “Still 15 bucks, though.”

Jerry could have ordered a Bloody Caesar — a Canadian riff on the classic Bloody Mary — made with clam broth, vodka, tomato juice, hot sauce, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, and a mix of herbs and spices.

You can make a Bloody Caesar at home too. 

Ingredients:

• Celery salt, for rim
• 2 lime wedges
• 2 ounces vodka
• 4 ounces tomato-clam juice
• 2 dashes hot sauce, such as Tabasco sauce
• 2 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• ½ ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 teaspoon prepared horseradish (optional)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 grinds black pepper
• 1 celery stalk, for garnish

Prepare the celery salt-rimmed glass. Pour some celery salt onto a small plate and select a pint or highball glass. Rub one lime wedge along the rim of the glass and invert the glass onto the plate.

In a cocktail shaker, combine vodka, tomato-clam juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, horseradish, salt, and black pepper. Add ice to fill the shaker ⅔ of the way up.

Roll, rather than shake, the cocktail by passing the drink back and forth between two shakers, or the shaker and a pint glass, three times.

Pour into the rimmed glass and garnish with a lime wedge and celery stick.