I am absolutely in love with these pickles. When I eat these pickles, I wonder why people currently make or have ever historically endeavored to make any other kind of pickles, ever. Later, when enough time has passed for the lingering tangy flavor to leave my tongue and for me to regain perspective and recover from my own hyperbole, I remember my abiding love for cornichons, too. And, you know...a good standard dill pickle is nice sometimes. But Archer Farms Bloody Mary Pickle Spears, man...they're just way too good. Just, like, really swell.
As far as I know, Archer Farms is a house brand at Target, so you'll have to look for them there if you want to try them for yourself. I don't believe they're distributed through any other stores.
Rather than a clear, vinegary brine, these pickles come suspended in a thick, opaque, tomato-tinged liquid. Some batches of brine are thinner than others, but usually the pickles look like they're floating in a thick tomato sauce.
The flavor is very close to that of a decent Bloody Mary, minus the vodka, of course. The pickles are so tasty, we decided to test whether you could actually just add vodka to the brine and happily drink it as a Bloody Mary.
Thankfully, when we tried it, we did it using unambitious little shot glasses. It turns out the brine is actually far too salty and strong to actually be considered a beverage. But maybe Bloody Mary pickle brine vodka shots could somehow be incorporated into a drinking game at your next party, with the strength and saltiness of the brine adding that extra bit of challenge. Just be sure to have a glass of water (or several) handy.
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| As is the current fashion, we added every garnish we had on hand: Tiny celery stalks, capers, onions, jalapeño olives, and the aforementioned cornichons. |
Tangy, savory, spicy, crunchy. They're so perfect. So delicious. And all for less than three bucks.
I highly, highly, highly recommend you pick up a jar of these if they sound at all interesting to you. And if you're getting one jar, go ahead and grab another while you're there. It'll stave off the waves of abject disappointment when you finish the first jar way faster than you thought you would.
