Michelada

How to make:

SALT the rim of a chilled beer mug by rubbing it with a lime wedge and dipping rim in the coarse salt. Squeeze the lime into the mug. Add the Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco. Pour in the beer and serve.

Garnish:

Coarse salt rim

Comment:

On a hot day, if a beer is not refreshing enough then a Michelada may hit the spot. In Mexico Valentina is the preferred brand of hot pepper sauce.

About:

Loosely translates as ‘my beer’ – ‘mi’ means ‘my’ and ‘chela’ is Mexican slang for pint. This drink, which is popular in Mexico, is thought to have originated there sometime in the 1940s. There are many variations of this drink. It is sometimes served with ice but usually with light Mexican lager. Even the spicy ingredients vary with soya sauce often omitted, but the hot pepper sauce is a constant.

In Mexico City itself, a Michelada almost always refers to something much simpler than this: 1 shot fresh lime juice in a glass with a salted rim, into which a light lager is poured. Very common too is the Michelato made with 2 shots Clamato (a clam-flavoured sweet tomato juice), then topped up with the beer, hot sauce (usually Valentina) and black pepper.