Michelada
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: Under 5 mins
Active: Under 5 mins
Makes: 2 drinks
By Aida Mollenkamp
There are several variations on this beertail, which is based on beer and lime juice. The version here is also known as a Michelada Cubana south of the border. With a flavor that’s sort of a mix between A.1. steak sauce and a Bloody Mary, our beer cocktail is an acquired taste (but a taste we think worth acquiring).
What to buy: Maggi is a dark liquid seasoning that is reminiscent of soy sauce yet doesn’t contain soy. It can be found at Asian and Latin markets. If you can’t find it, substitute soy sauce.
Game plan: For a slacker solution, go to the store and buy yourself a pack of one of the various cerveza preparadas that are being marketed by the big beer companies.
This recipe was featured as part of our Super Bowl for a Crowd menu.
- Place enough salt in a wide, shallow dish to cover the bottom. Rub the rims of two glasses with reserved lime rinds and dip into salt. Fill the glasses with ice and set aside.
- Place lime juice, beer, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, and Maggi or soy sauce in a pitcher and mix to combine. Pour mixture into the prepared glasses, top with a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper, and serve.
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Interesting twist. I'll have to try it once the weather here warms up a bit. I've had a similar, simpler version that was called a chelada that was just beer and lime juice in a salt rimmed glass. Very refreshing on a hot summer day. I've also made my own version with freshly squeezed grapefruit juice instead of lime. Very tasty although it is much better if you squeeze the grapefruit yourself instead of buying it in a bottle. Bottled grapefruit juice tends to be either too bitter or too sweet.
This traditional Mexican Drink, beer with pocante was a favorite of the revolutionary General from San Luis Potosi, "Don Agusto Michel", from whom its name is derived.
I love this drink! Lately, my friends have been using Clamato to mix with their beers, which is interesting, especially if you like the clam flavor. I prefer the traditional Michelada. They actually sell this in a can, pre-made, as well.
Gotta use Maggi "seasoning sauce" instead of regular soy sauce...and add a little sea salt and freshly ground pepper!
2top thanks for the identifying the origin of the name... I was always curious and wondering if it somehow derived from the Nahautl pre-fix Mich (fish)... as in Michoacan (place of the fisherman)... because the earliest versions of Michelada I remember did involve clam juice.
Eat_Nopal, the michelada (aka chelada, chavela, habela cerveza preparada) involves clam juice, usually clamato and involve a few shrimp on the rim, so you might be right about the Nahautl connection.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/305888
The most common version on the web is
1 part Clamato; 2 parts Beer; 1 squirt Lemon Juice; 3 dashes Tabasco Sauce; 2 drops Worchester Sauce.
I always heard that "michelada" came from "mi chelada", "my chilled thing".
Its possible but that just sounds like an East L.A. interpretation to me. The construct of Mexicanisms don't really work that way. Futher you have two common offerings the Michelada & the Chelada.... as well as typical slang for beer like Chelas & Birrias.
When it comes to explaining Michelada vs. Chelada... I could bet the Michelada came first... then someone stripped it of some ingredients and shortened the name to Chelada... that works perfectly in Mexican logic.
Here in Houston, we have a fabulous but funky seafood restaurant where I was first introduced to Micheladas (Captain Toms). They use chilled beer mugs, squeeze a full lime into the glass, sprinkle salt on the rum, add their special sauce, and whatever beer you desire. I love it! I've been trying to duplicate the sauce at home, and think it's fairly simple...I've come close. I believe it's mostly tabasco-based. The soy sauce doesn't seem right. I love the flavor burst of cold beer, lime, hot sauce and salt!
Tabasco sounds horrible in a Michelada... and well in anything. It is by far the worst bottled salsa I have ever come across... I don't know how governments allow consumers to be duped into that crap!
The posted recipe tells you to mix everything together. That's not the way I've been served micheladas in Mexico. All the non-beer ingredients go into the glass with ice first, then the beer is poured over them. In some regions of Mexico, a michelada has a tomatoey flavor, while in Mexico City I've only seen them with lime juice, ice, and salt with the beer. The first place I ever had a michelada was at the Bar Opera in the Centro Historico - a beautiful old place with 19th Century decor and a bullet hole put in the ceiling by Pancho Villa when he rode in on his horse.
This is a great new product on the market now called a chelada, it is budweiser or bud light mixed in a can with clamato juice. Great way to recover from a bad night.
A Michelada Cubano, is a Michelada con picantes (maggi, worchester, hot sauce, pepper) and the ingredients for the plain Michelada. There is no clamato in the original. I've heard of such a drink called a "Cielo Rojo".
"This traditional Mexican Drink, beer with pocante was a favorite of the revolutionary General from San Luis Potosi, "Don Agusto Michel", from whom its name is derived."
I'd been thinking it was derived from Mexican slang for "cerveza", which is "chela". It also means "Betty",
"Ada" as a suffix means "ade" such as in "limonada", fresh limeade.
Thus, Mi+chela+ada would mean "My beer (plus) lime juice".
What could be simpler, ¿verdad?
More thoughts on this popular drink.
Some bars and restaurants here n Mexico offer "Micheladas de sabores". In other words, you can get it made to your taste, in different flavors.
An interesting variant is served at Langostiko's Beach Restaurant (actually located deep inland in Morelia, Michoacán. The serve a Clamato-based Michelada with cooked shrimp and a few raw oysters in it. I took one without the oysters, (which I won't eat raw in Mexico) and it was pretty good. But, I think it's a waste of shrimp.
Another recomendationi which is a variation of the Clasic Michelada is:
Rusa (Michalada Rusa): this is a fresher and simpler drink recommended if spices and too much condiments upset your stomach.
Preparation: Ice + beer + lime juice + salt
Guadalajara Style
¡Cool!
Preparation: Ice + beer + lime juice + salt rim
This is how most of my Mexican costomers have it and call it simply a Michelada.
Preparation: Ice + beer + lime juice + salt rim
This is how most of my Mexican costomers have it and call it simply a Michelada.
please note if your ever in Juarez or el paso and you order a Michelada you will get the ice+ beer+ lime juice+salt rim that is absolutely heavenly on a hot day!
I prefer the simpler version. Also the last time I looked (last night) nowhere on a bottle of Tabasco does it say that it is salsa, it is a hot sauce...hot sauce made with Tabasco peppers to be precise.
I'm done here; everyone has their favorites. ¡Que disfruten sus micheladas!
or do the lazy way and buy your beer of choice and spicy v-8 - oh yum
beer, lime, salt, tapatio. . . ice. . .nada mas.
I had always heard that the term derived from 'mi cheve helada', or, literally, my frozen beer.