Because Field to Glass Tastes Bloody Good

Ah… the Bloody Mary. The mention of it sends tingles down my spine. You too? Thought so. Memories emerge of mornings after, rowdy brunches, and decadent meals in a glass. And just as brunch has become a social norm across the USA, the Bloody Mary has become an American beverage staple, synonymous with the weekend.

I grew up in New York City where almost everything you touch or sip….has someone trying to make the next best thing (to touch or sip). The hustle is real and unrelenting, especially in the food and beverage industry. So, it goes without saying that the Bloody Mary has been subject to the rat race. And over the past decade (and then some) of being a girl about town, I’ve seen–and tasted–it all in the Bloody Mary. From changing up liquor choices (I just tasted my first sake Bloody Mary last weekend), to adding homemade chunks of beef jerky, to decorating rims with cumin-infused salt, to garnishing glasses with handpicked and hand-pickled veggies, to goopy oysters oozing off toothpicks, it seems everyone is competing in this bloodthirsty Bloody Mary game. At a certain point, it becomes, well… bloody exhausting! And as I ripen into my thirties, I find myself ever-craving quiet simplicity and a return to the basics.

Enter Seaside Grown. Seaside Grown is the nation’s first farm to table bloody mary mix stemming from a 115 year-old, family-owned tomato farming business. Situated on the sleepy, southern island of St. Helena in Beaufort, South Carolina, there lives a 2000-acre tomato farm next to the sea where you can’t avoid the taste of salt on your lips. (Salt literally drips from everywhere–especially your own body–it was about 100 degrees and as humid as a steam room when I visited, but totally great for tomato harvesting!).

I sat down with Ross Taylor, the creator of the Seaside Grown brand and a 5th generation tomato farmer. He explained that the family’s tomato farming heritage began in the early 1900’s with Gustav “Gus” Sanders, a tax collector for Beaufort County, who began the first commercial tomato farm on the East Coast. Since then, the Sanders Family has been known for growing the most mouth-watering tomatoes on the East Coast. But it wasn’t until (2?) years ago, when Ross realized that nearly two million tomatoes were being tossed each year because they were too ripe or unsightly to be used, that he started this sustainable, family-owned bloody mary mix.

The Bloody Mary mix is a refreshing return to simple pleasure and pure taste. It’s not loaded down with sodium and chemicals and the tomatoes are literally hand-picked the same day they’re bottled. Sustainability and freshness are so important to this family that they’ve included a unique label on each bottle of Seaside Grown to indicate the exact acre where the tomatoes in that bottle were picked–very cool.

Ross walked me around his family’s stunning property on the sea where the tomatoes are grown and toured me around his family house, which looks like a movie set. (And, in fact, it was! The house used in Forrest Gump was modeled off the family’s house in Beaufort and a few of the film’s most famous scenes were actually filmed there). Ross also walked me along the sandy paths down to the sea, where little crabs kept scurrying over my feet, and pointed out Hilton Head a few miles away. He said his great-grandfather used to own it and sold it for $100!

While I knew I was going to Beaufort to cover a tomato farm and taste a remarkably fresh bloody mary, I didn’t realize the depth of generations of family tales I would discover. The love this family has for their land and for their tomatoes emanates out of the soil and into your soul as you walk around their picturesque property. Needless to say, Seaside Grown was a very pleasant diversion from the saturated Bloody Mary market in NYC. I went back to New York determined to share my southern tastebuds. I convinced everyone to only drink this mix and had my local storer order many bottles they sold right away. It’s the only Bloody Mary mix I will be drinking from now on.

Oh, and I haven’t even told you the best part. It’s only $10. I repeat, ten dollars. It comes in spicy and regular — his and hers — the perfect gift for anyone, anytime. And, there’s more: The tomato menu doesn’t stop at Bloody Marys. In 2019 we can look forward to salsa, cocktail sauce, and recipes on how to use your bloody mary mix in delicious southern cooking… all hail the red rice! I can’t wait for more. Click here to buy your bottle today and unbottle this family’s salty, delicious legacy for yourself!