It was in early October, when I sat down with the guys from Seattle's Matt's in the Market, that I first heard the word "snit." "Do you mean a tattletale?" I asked them. No, owner Dan Bugge told me, it's a shot (or more) of beer served alongside a Bloody Mary. A beer back, essentially. (Minnesotans will know what he's talking about.) Since then, Matt's has received a lot of attention for its Bloody Mary with a Snit; Seattle Weekly even rated it the number one Bloody in the city. Just in time for Super Bowl, Minnesota-born bartender Robbie McGrath shares his recipe—which uses aquavit, not vodka—below. So now you can drink as many snits as you want at home, knowing full well what they are.
1 ½ oz Linie aquavit
5-7 dashes of Melinda’s XXXXtra Reserve Habanero Hot Pepper Sauce
3-4 dashes of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
Salt and pepper
Sacramento tomato juice
Woodring Northwest pickled green beans
3 oz Miller High Life*
In a 12-14 oz glass filled halfway with ice, blend the first four ingredients. Add tomato juice, stir, and garnish with green beans. Serve with a 3-oz snit of Miller High Life. (May be drunk separately or added to the Bloody Mary.)
* If McGrath feels like going full Midwest, he uses Miller High Life. If he wants to give the drink a Northwest twist, he uses Rainier.
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