When mixing your Bloody Mary on the Fourth of July requires a skid steer, ladders and 5-gallon buckets, you’re not messin’ around.
For America’s 250th, Smashed on the Rocks Saloon in Algoma is go-big-or-go-home when it comes to the cocktail that has become its calling card. We’re talking world record-attempt big.
The summertime destination at Sunrise Cove Marina on Lake Michigan is already a three-time People’s Choice award winner at The Bloody Mary Festival in Milwaukee, and its signature loaded Bloody is an architectural wonder of ever-changing crazy garnishes carefully constructed to stick out of the mug, everything from a foot-long hot dog and barbecue meatballs to a shrimp cocktail and a wedding cupcake.
There’s only one way to top that.
“According to the people, they think we’re the best, now we need to be the biggest,” said Smashed on the Rocks co-owner Rana Ninneman.
As part of day-long waterfront celebration on July 4, all eyes will be on Smashed on the Rocks’ patio stage, where the bar will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for the biggest Bloody Mary. The record currently belongs to the 2018 International Plowing Match & Rural Expo in Canada for whipping up one that was just over 155 U.S. gallons.
Ninneman said the crew at Smashed thinks it’s time that honor comes back to the United States, and where better than Wisconsin, which knows a thing or two about the game day cocktail.
How the heck do you mix up a 310-gallon Bloody Mary?
It’s all going down in a stainless steel mug that stands more than 6 feet tall and was custom-fabricated by KNG Mechanical in Chippewa Falls. It weighs 3,000 pounds empty and takes a skid steer or telehandler to move it around. It can hold more than 310 gallons of one giant Blood Mary, which Ninneman expects to be around 2,500 individual drinks.
The mixing will begin at noon, and while Smashed’s “award-winning secret mix” will be accounted for, don’t look for cans of tomato juice and shot glasses of vodka during the process.
“We’ll have an assembly line of some good strong guys who will be dumping 5-gallon buckets, and then we’ll have a couple ladders with a couple of our bartenders just pouring in vodka, which is sponsored by Absolut,” Ninneman said.
It will not have garnishes, because, well, where do you find a celery stalk big enough for a 6-foot mug?
“We thought of all that. Do we do turkey legs? Do we have a huge Bavarian pretzel on top?” Ninneman said. “But we are just going to focus on the cocktail itself.”
It will be served free (beer chaser included) while supplies last
She expects it ready to be served by 1 p.m. Guests who are 21 and older will line up for an ID check, get a glass and their drink. They’ll then head over to the Lake Whispers Brewing LLC trailer for their beer chaser.
The drink will be served free while it lasts, but guests are encouraged to make a donation to give back to the community. A table will be set up to help raise money for local veterans programs, the local food pantry and the Violence Intervention Project. Patrons can also bring a nonperishable food item.
In addition to going after the record for biggest Bloody Mary, Smashed on the Rocks also thinks it can nab another for the most people served by a single Bloody Mary, which Ninneman believes currently stands at 150 people.
The bar will not be serving its loaded Bloody Marys on the Fourth, as it’s counting on folks to do their part to help consume the monster one.
Everything will be recorded on time-lapse video beginning 10 days before the main event. People on hand will be taking signatures and counting participants. Everything will then be sent to Guinness World Records.
“We’ll submit it and hope for the best,” Ninneman said. “If we don’t get it, at least it’s going to be one big fun party.”
She’s already had calls from other states about it. She knows of people flying in from the Gulf Coast to take it in, and a couple from England phoned and said they’ll be in the area and plan to attend.
Here’s the Fourth of July party schedule at Smashed on the Rocks
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on X @KendraMeinert.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Algoma bar hopes to break 2 records with world’s largest Bloody Mary
Reporting by Kendra Meinert, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Kendra Meinert, Green Bay Press-Gazette | USA TODAY Network
