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This is Scientific American's 60-Second Science. I'm Karen Hopkin. This will just take a minute.

2011 is the International Year of Chemistry. So scientists at the national meeting of the American Chemical Society in Anaheim raised a glass. (Or a beaker.) And they celebrated¹ as only chemists can—by carefully analyzing² its contents.

The drink they dissected³ was the Bloody⁴ Mary, perhaps the world's most chemically complex cocktail⁵. A mix of tomato juice and vodka, along with lemon or lime, horseradish, Tabasco and Worcestershire sauces, black pepper and celery salt, the Bloody Mary packs a punch. And it lights up nearly our entire range of taste receptors, giving us sweet, salty, sour and savory⁶.

To find out the Bloody Mary's secret, researchers shared one with a chromatograph, which identified the various compounds that contribute to the drink's flavor and bouquet⁷. The scientists turned up plenty of antioxidants, as well as a few bartending tips.

First, make it fresh. The acids in tomato juice can degrade the drink's other ingredients. Also, make it cold—ice slows the degradation⁸. Use the best tomato juice—the major source of flavor. But feel free to cheap out on the vodka. Its taste gets lost in the complex mix. In other words, chemists say to save the Grey Goose for other experiments.

Thanks for the minute. For Scientific American's 60-Second Science, I'm Karen Hopkin.