The Valentine Releases Valentine’s Meat Juice Bloody Mary Mix
RICHMOND – The Valentine is releasing a spicy cocktail mixer adapted from the original Valentine’s Meat-Juice, invented by the museum’s founder Mann S. Valentine II in 1870. Valentine’s Meat Juice Bloody Mary Mix will be available for purchase at a launch party on November 17 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. and will continue to be available in the museum gift shop until all bottles are sold. The launch party will include free tastings of the Bloody Mary Mix.
In 1870, Mann Valentine’s wife Ann fell ill, and her doctors were unable to find a cure. Mann Valentine toiled for weeks until he created a medicinal meat extract, made of slowly cooked beef, which he then pressed into a juice and mixed with egg whites. Ann recovered, and Mann Valentine patented the recipe.
Valentine’s Meat-Juice was an instant hit as both a dietary supplement and as a flavoring. In 1878, Mann Valentine took his Meat-Juice to the Paris Exposition. A few years later, it gained more popularity after President James A. Garfield took two teaspoons a day after he was shot in an 1881 assassination attempt. By the mid-20th century, grocery stores marketed it as a flavoring additive rather than a health tonic. The profits from the Meat-Juice business helped fund the museum, and the company remained in the Valentine family until it closed in 1986.
“If it weren’t for the popularity of Valentine’s Meat-Juice, the museum may not have had the start-up funds it needed,” said Director Bill Martin. “With our new Bloody Mary Mix, we’re continuing to tell this uniquely Richmond story by using all local vendors to create a new product by and for Richmonders. This idea has been in the works for many years, and we’re excited to finally be able to share it with our community.”
Each bottle of Valentine’s Meat Juice Bloody Mary Mix contains four servings and costs $6.50.
More information about Valentine’s Meat-Juice can be found here: https://thevalentine.wpenginepowered.com/meat-juice-shake-well-before-use/
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ABOUT THE VALENTINE
The Valentine has been collecting, preserving and interpreting Richmond’s 400-year history for over a century. Located in the heart of historic downtown, the Valentine is a place for residents and tourists to discover the diverse stories that tell the broader history of this important region.