WATCH: Do This For the Best Bloody Mary Ever

If you're a fan of the Bloody Mary, you're probably very particular about the way you like it to be made. Do you like it spiked with horseradish or hot sauce? Heavy on the vodka? Rimmed with salt? Served over lots of ice? When no one is looking, do you add a splash of clam juice?

And we haven't even started on the garnishes yet.

For a relatively simple cocktail, there are countless ways to make a Bloody Mary—and none of them are wrong. But there is one very simple thing you can do to make your own personal version of the drink even better. When our test kitchen was tasked with coming up with the Ultimate Bloody Mary recipe they tried all sorts of variations until they cracked the code and came up with a version that truly lived up to its name.

One thing that made a huge difference to the taste testers (yes, this is a real job) was the type of vegetable juice used—or, to be more specific, the type of container that the juice was packaged in. Juice sold in a plastic container had a better, clearer flavor, while canned juice in an aluminum can had a faint metallic aftertaste.

Whether you prefer plain old tomato juice, vegetable juice, or Clamato, reach for a plastic bottle instead of a can. We'll leave the rest of the recipe up to you. Although you really can't go wrong with our vibrant homemade mixer, which is made with vegetable juice, fresh scallions, cocktail onions, lemon and lime juice, Old Bay, hot sauce, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, celery salt, and a pinch of sugar. Yes, that is a lot of ingredients, but it's also the best Bloody Mary we've ever had.