Think of everything your dad went through to bring you up.

No wonder he is bald.

On Father’s Day, say ‘thank you.’ And mix the guy a drink.

I suggest the Bloody Bay, a cocktail made with The Bay Seasoned Vodka, an elixir spiked with traditional Chesapeake Bay seasonings. It’s already hot and spicy, which makes mixing a Bloody a snap.

We put The Bay to the test, assembling a panel of tasters at a recent brunch at our house, with our own variation on the recipe on a tag attached to the bottle. Here goes:

Mix 1.5 ounces of the The Bay Vodka with 4 ounces of extra spicy V-8 and a squeeze of lemon juice. Mix vigorously with ice, then pour into a footed ice tea glass with more ice. Add a stalk of celery. (Substitute wedges of cucumber when you run out of celery.)

We found The Bay ideal for entertaining. The company recipe suggests using your favorite Bloody Mary mix but we thought the vodka and V-8 added sufficient zing. Zesty and delicious.

The Bay is made by Philadelphia Distilling, whose co-founder Andrew Aurwerda was inspired by his days at the University of Maryland, where I suspect there was a whole lot of drinking going on.

Don’t tell dad. But do buy him a bottle of The Bay. Expect to pay about $25 for a one-liter bottle outfitted with a cool hinged china stopper.