Micheladas

It’s February, the weather is surprisingly mild, and I’m fantasizing about being laid out on a beach somewhere in the South of Mexico. Of course, the next (and obvious) question is, what am I drinking? As I’m sure you guessed from the name of this post, it’s a Michelada 🙂

Ask 100 different Mexicans and you’ll get 100 different answers as to where the famous Michelada originated from. The most popular versions maintain that the Michelada was either named after the man who created the earliest version of it, or that it is a blend of the words mi-chela-helada, “my cold beer.”

Since there are just as many variations in the recipe and ingredients, I turned to my Michelada expert friends when I decided I wanted to live out part of (I still need the beach part) my fantasy.

So let’s get started! This is what you’ll need:

• Six-pack of beer (I recommend Pacifico!)
• Limes
• Salt
• Maggi sauce
• Chili Powder (I like Tajin!)
• Habanero Sauce
• Clamato

Directions:

1. Start with a tall glass and fill it about halfway with ice. Pour salt over the ice and roll the glass between both your hands so that the salt evenly covers most of the ice. Do the same with the chili powder. I used roughly 1 teaspoon of each, but this should definitely be adjusted depending on your tastes!
2. Roll the limes to get the juices flowing and then squeeze one medium sized lime into the glass.
3. Add 2 splashes of Maggi into the glass and 2 splashes of the Habanero sauce. If you’re really into spice, you can always kick it up a notch and add a few more splashes!
4. Finally, fill up about 1/3 of the glass with Clamato and the rest with the beer.

And you’re done! I chose to garnish my Micheladas with celery sticks, but other popular choices include slices of lime, or lining the rim with the chili powder (instead of putting it directly in).

As I mentioned before, there are countless variations of this drink and the best way to make it is by making it to your taste. No judgement here 🙂

One more quick note – all the beautiful illustrations for this post were made by my super talented designer friend Laurel! She does the most amazing hand-drawn designs. Check out her website here!

Enjoy!