Clamato is a commercial drink made of reconstituted tomato juice

concentrate A concentrate is a form of substance that has had the majority of its base component (in the case of a liquid: the solvent) removed. Typically, this will be the removal of water from a solution or suspension, such as the removal of water from fru ...

and sugar, which is flavored with spices, dried clam broth and MSG. Made by

Mott's Mott's is an American company involved primarily in producing apple-based products, particularly juices and sauces. The company was founded in 1842 by Samuel R. Mott of Bouckville, New York, who made apple cider and vinegar. In 1914, the c ...

, the name is a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsmixed with

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

to make a drink similar to a Bloody Mary.

History

In 1935 The Clamato Corporation of New York produced "clam and tomato juice in combination". In 1940, "Lobster King" Harry Hackney was granted the Clamato trademark. His Atlantic City restaurant, Hackney's, sold Clamato juice in cans. In 1957, McCormick & Company, Inc. applied for, and later acquired, the Clamato brand name for the seasoned blend of tomato juice and clam juice. This trademark is still valid and now owned by

Keurig Dr Pepper Keurig Dr Pepper Inc., formerly Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (1981–2014) and Keurig Green Mountain (2014–2018), is a publicly traded American beverage and coffeemaker conglomerate with headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts. Formed in ...

. Clamato was produced in its current form beginning in 1966 by the Duffy-Mott company in

Hamlin, New York Hamlin is a town in Monroe County, New York, United States. The population was 9,045 at the 2010 census. The Town of Hamlin is in the northwestern part of the county and is the second largest town in area in the county. History The Town of Ha ...

, created by Francis Luskey, a chemist, and another employee working out of California who wanted to create a Manhattan clam chowder style cocktail by combining tomato juice and clam broth with spices. Its history extends further back, however, as a nearly identical drink was already present in a cookbook published a decade earlier. The employees named the new cocktail "Mott's Clamato" and secured the trademark for the new brand. The brand was owned by

Cadbury-Schweppes Cadbury, formerly Cadbury's and Cadbury Schweppes, is a British multinational confectionery company fully owned by Mondelez International (originally Kraft Foods) since 2010. It is the second largest confectionery brand in the world after Mar ...

after the company bought Mott's in 1982. As of 2008, it is owned by

after the business was spun off of Cadbury-Schweppes. In recent years, the Clamato label was updated and no longer shows the image of a clam, an attempt by the manufacturer to downplay the seafood aspect of the beverage.

Lawsuits

In 1998, Cadbury-Schweppes sued former contract manufacturer of Clamato FBI Foods claiming that their brand “Caesar Cocktail” was proof of

breach of confidence The tort of breach of confidence is, in United States law, a common law tort that protects private information that is conveyed in confidence. A claim for breach of confidence typically requires the information to be of a confidential nature, whi ...

, claiming that the product used their recipe as a base. They brought the case to the

Supreme Court of British Columbia Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motown- ...

. The initial ruling was appealed. The case reached the

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the highest court in the judicial system of Canada. It comprises nine justices, whose decisions are the ultimate application of Canadian law, and grants permission to ...

and it was

ruled ''Ruled'' is the fifth full-length LP by The Giraffes. Drums, bass and principal guitar tracks recorded at The Bunker in Brooklyn, NY. Vocals and additional guitars recorded at Strangeweather in Brooklyn, NY. Mixed at Studio G in Brooklyn, NY ...

that FBI foods would pay Cadbury-Schweppes $300,000 for revenue they lost in the first year of competition. It was reasoned that any juice maker would have been able to reverse-engineer the recipe within a year. Since 2018, Keurig Dr Pepper has sued several companies who have been infringing on the Clamato trademark using the "mato" suffix to describe their version of the product. This is done in order to prevent the genericization of the trademark by making sure Clamato stays a distinctive brand name, as well as to preserve the brand image and identity.

Consumption

Clamato is used primarily as a drink mix for alcoholic beverages (an estimated 60% of sales in the US in 2008), and it is popular for this in both Canada and Mexico, but less so in the United States (outside of

Canadian-American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadian ...

and

Mexican-American Mexican Americans ( es, mexicano-estadounidenses, , or ) are Americans of full or partial Mexican heritage. In 2019, Mexican Americans comprised 11.3% of the US population and 61.5% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexic ...

communities).

With vodka

In Canada, Clamato is primarily used to make a cocktail called a

Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, an ...

. It was reported by ''The New York Times'' in 2018, that one third of North America's supply of Clamato is consumed by Canadians, the majority of which is used to make Caesars. Since 2001, Cadbury Schweppes (now

Canada Dry Motts Canada Dry Motts is a beverage company based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the Canadian division of Keurig Dr Pepper (KDP). It was a subsidiary of Cadbury-Schweppes and was previously called Cadbury Beverages Canada Inc. Cadbury pl ...

) has been selling an alcoholic version of the beverage called the Clamato Caesar in the Canadian market.

With beer

Clamato is also added to

beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from cer ...

in various beer cocktails, such as the

michelada A ''michelada'' (Spanish pronunciation: itʃeˈlaða is a Mexican drink made with beer, lime juice, assorted sauces (often chili-based), spices, and chili peppers. It is served in a chilled, salt-rimmed glass. There are numerous variations of thi ...

; the most basic is known as a "beer 'n clam", "Clam Eye", or "Red Eye" in

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

, which adds Clamato to

pale lager Pale lager is a very pale-to- golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale brewi ...

s. In 2001,

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV ( AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

and Cadbury-Schweppes introduced a premixed version called the "Budweiser and Clamato Chelada" in the United States. Adding more spices (similar to those in a

) results in what is called ''sangre de cristo'' (blood of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religi ...

) in Mexico.

Beefamato

Beefamato is a similar beverage, but made from

beef broth Broth, also known as bouillon (), is a savory liquid made of water in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered for a short period of time. It can be eaten alone, but it is most commonly used to prepare other dishes, such as soups, ...

and tomato juice, with a touch of Worcestershire sauce. Beefamato is a popular ingredient in many cocktails, such as "Gramma's Bloody Mary".

References

External links

* {{Dr Pepper Snapple brands Drink brands Keurig Dr Pepper brands Juice Mixed drinks Products introduced in 1966 Canadian cuisine Mexican cuisine Clam dishes