The Bullshot or Bull Shot , an eccentric mix of vodka, beef broth, and, usually, Bloody Mary spices, was invented at the Caucus Club in Detroit, Michigan, when John Hurley, an advertising executive charged with selling more Campbell’s canned consommé, was discussing his problem with the club’s owner, the legendary restaurateur Lester Gruber (1907–1983). That was in 1954 or 1955. The drink made it into print in 1956 and soon became a favorite among ad men, movie stars, and all kinds of other people who wanted something flashy and different to drink.
Recalls Dale DeGroff:
I first encountered the Bullshot in the late 1960s at Charlie O’s Restaurant in Rockefeller Center in New York, which was run by another legendary restaurateur, Joe Baum (1920–1998), and his company Restaurant Associates. Baum, who opened the place in 1966, wanted a classy Irish bar and if the Bullshot was classy enough for the Caucus Club then it belonged in Charlie O’s, although we ended up favoring a variant of the drink, the Bloody Bull, which swapped out half the Campbell’s beef broth for tomato juice.
I was leery of that at first because tomato juice loses its integrity if it is shaken hard. But I was wrong; the drink tasted wonderful shaken and it looked great. It actually “set up” like a pint of Guinness in the glass. The Caucus Club claimed to have their own spice mix, but like most people we spiced ours—both Bullshot and Bloody Bull—similarly to a Bloody Mary. We left out the salt, since the broth was so salty.
Charlie O’s kept both drinks popular until they closed in 1989. They can still be found in older New York steakhouses such as Ben Benson’s, Keens, and Mortons.
In 1984, as head bartender for Baum’s fine dining restaurant, Aurora, DeGroff wanted to recreate the Bullshot he had loved so much at Charlie O’s. “Baum was skeptical,” he explains. “He didn’t like the idea of canned beef broth being served in his upscale joint, what with its Michelin-star chef, Gérard Pangaud. Gérard liked the idea but wanted it made with pheasant consommé and so it was for a while. We dubbed it the ‘Foul Shot’ (and that is the cleaned up version).” At least one special customer, celebrated art director Milton Glazer, enjoyed it, and that was good enough for Baum. When DeGroff finally got back to beef broth, “Joe still wasn’t satisfied: he claimed the lime or lemon didn’t work as garnish. I stumbled on the solution in a Chinese restaurant; I scanned the menu and my gaze landed on beef with orange. I started garnishing my Bullshot with orange peel and left out the Worcestershire sauce, and Joe was satisfied.” As with the Bloody Mary, there is a lot of “creativity” when it comes to recipes for the Bull Shot. Here is DeGroff’s:
Recipe: Shake well with ice: 45 ml vodka, 100 ml beef broth (canned or house-made) or, for a Bloody Bull, 60 ml broth and 40 ml tomato juice, 5 ml fresh-squeezed orange juice, 5 ml medium dry sherry, 2 dashes Tabasco sauce, and a pinch of black pepper. Strain into ice-filled highball glass and twist orange peel over the top.See also: Bloody Mary.
Wondrich, David. “Why the Bullshot Cocktail Is No Joke.” Daily Beast, April 10, 2017, https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-the-bullshot-cocktail-is-no-joke (accessed February 4, 2021).
By: Dale DeGroff and David Wondrich