Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to try several different Bloody Mary mixes, from BBQ varieties to one with ghost peppers. With 5 different bottles mix in my fridge as of now, I’ve gotten used to pouring myself a Mary on a Sunday afternoon.

My current fave is The Murph’s, particularly the Hot and Spicy variety. Available primarily in New York and New Jersey right now, The Murph’s is very much a traditional-tasting Bloody Mary. It’s very tomato-forward overall, which is exactly what you’d expect. The ingredient list is the same for both versions of Murph’s, though it seems Hot and Spicy just has a heavier dose of horseradish, cayenne, and black pepper (which I love).

There is unfortunately one drawback to The Murph’s: one pesky thing I found in the ingredient list, and that’s corn syrup. Now I’m no scientist or doctor, so I can’t give you a technical reason why, but I don’t like corn syrup. In fact, I avoid the high-fructose variety (HFCS) altogether. Now, the corn syrup in The Murph’s is one ingredient of one ingredient (the Worcestershire sauce), so I can forgive it to some extent, but I just wish it wasn’t in there.

I like The Murph’s and I like the traditional flavor of the mix. On the whole, it make for a tasty Bloody Mary, and it’s a valid choice when you see it on the shelf, I just wish they could dump that one pesky ingredient to perfect the recipe (in my eyes).