Clamato facts for kids
341 mL can of Mott's Clamato. The Canadian package artwork includes English and French languages.
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| Type | Tomato juice/clam broth hybrid |
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| Manufacturer | Mott's (Keurig Dr Pepper) |
| Distributor | Grupo Peñafiel (Mexico) Canada Dry Motts (Canada) Empire Bespoke Foods Ltd (UK) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Introduced | 1966 |
| Variants |
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| Related products | Kraut juice, Caesar |
Clamato is a special kind of drink made by Mott's. It's a mix of tomato juice and a little bit of clam broth, along with spices and sugar. The name "Clamato" is a combination of the words clam and tomato.
This unique drink is popular in Canada, Mexico, and some parts of the United States. People often use Clamato as a mixer for other drinks, especially for a popular Canadian drink called a Caesar, which is similar to a Bloody Mary.
Contents
The Story of Clamato
Clamato has an interesting history, starting many years ago.
Early Ideas for Clam and Tomato Drinks
- In 1935, a company called The Clamato Corporation in New York made a drink that combined clam and tomato juice.
- A few years later, in 1938, a magazine called House & Garden even shared a recipe for a "Tomato-Clam Juice Cocktail." This recipe used tomato juice, clam broth, and salt.
- In 1940, a person known as "Lobster King" Harry Hackney got the official trademark for the name "Clamato." His restaurant in Atlantic City, Hackney's, sold Clamato juice in cans.
How Modern Clamato Began
The Clamato we know today started being made in 1966. It was created by the Duffy-Mott company in Hamlin, New York. A chemist named Francis Luskey and another employee from California wanted to make a drink that tasted like Manhattan clam chowder. They mixed tomato juice with clam broth and added spices.
They named their new drink "Mott's Clamato" and made sure to get the trademark for it. Over the years, the company that owned Mott's changed hands. First, Cadbury-Schweppes bought Mott's in 1982. Then, in 2008, Keurig Dr Pepper became the owner of the brand.
Recently, the look of the Clamato label was updated. The new label no longer shows a picture of a clam. This was done to make the drink seem less like it's made from seafood.
How People Enjoy Clamato
Clamato is mostly used as a mixer for drinks. About 60% of its sales in the U.S. are for this purpose. It's very popular in Canada and Mexico for mixing, but less so in the United States, except in communities with Canadian-American or Mexican-American backgrounds.
Clamato in Canada
In Canada, Clamato is mainly used to make a drink called a Caesar. A report in 2018 mentioned that Canadians drink a huge amount of Clamato—about one-third of all the Clamato sold in North America! Most of this is used to make Caesars. Since 2001, a company called Canada Dry Motts has even sold a ready-to-drink version called the Clamato Caesar in Canada.
Clamato with Beer
Clamato is also added to beer to create different beer cocktails. One simple mix is called a "beer 'n clam" or "Red Eye" in Western Canada. It's just Clamato added to a light beer.
In 2001, Anheuser-Busch and Cadbury-Schweppes introduced a ready-made drink in the United States called the "Budweiser and Clamato Chelada." This drink already has Clamato mixed with beer.
In Mexico, if you add more spices to this beer and Clamato mix (like the spices used in a Caesar), it's sometimes called sangre de cristo, which means "blood of Christ".
Beefamato
Mott's used to make another similar drink called Beefamato. Instead of clam broth, this drink was made from beef broth and tomato juice.
See also
In Spanish: Clamato para niños
