Michelada
Mexican lager with lime, hot sauce, Worcestershire and a salted rim over ice. The spiced beer of Mexico — savoury, sour, cold, and the best thing for a hot afternoon or the morning after.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Rim a tall glass or beer mug with chilli-lime salt and fill it with ice.
Add the lime juice, hot sauce, Worcestershire, salt and, if using, the tomato juice, and stir.
Pour in the cold beer slowly, down the side of the glass.
Stir once, garnish with a lime wedge, and serve with the rest of the beer to top up.
A thoughtful finish
- The beer must be very cold and light. A craft IPA fights the lime and spice; a pale Mexican lager is the canvas.
- Build the base in the glass before the beer goes in, so you can taste and adjust the heat and salt without foaming the beer.
- With tomato juice or Clamato it is the northern, richer style; without it is the central Mexican one. Both are Micheladas.
Common mistakes
- Shaking it. Beer foams out of a shaker.
- Bottled lime juice; the drink is lime and beer.
- A hoppy or dark beer. The bitterness and roast clash with everything else.
A few good questions.
What is the difference between a Michelada and a Chelada?
A Chelada is beer, lime and salt; a Michelada adds hot sauce, Worcestershire and often tomato. In some Mexican regions the names are swapped.
Clamato or tomato juice?
Clamato — tomato juice with clam broth — is the northern Mexican and Texan standard and gives a savoury depth; plain tomato juice is milder; neither is required.
How spicy should it be?
To taste. Four dashes of hot sauce is a medium start; Mexicans often add chamoy or a chilli powder rim for more.
Is it a hangover cure?
It is the traditional one in Mexico, and a cold, salty, sour beer with lime is at least a comfort.
Variations
- Chelada — Beer, lime and salt.
- Bloody Maria — Tequila, tomato and spice.
- Red Eye — Beer and tomato juice.
- Black and Tan — Stout over ale.
Where it comes from
c. 1940s–1960s · Mexico
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
The Michelada is Mexican beer made into a drink — lime, salt and chilli added to a cold lager — and its origin is as argued as its recipe. The favourite story credits Michel Ésper at the Club Deportivo Potosino in San Luis Potosí in the 1960s, who ordered his beer with lime, salt, ice and a straw and gave it his name — Michel’s lemonade, ‘Michel-ada’; a rival etymology says it is simply mi chela helada, my cold beer. The hot sauce, Worcestershire and tomato or Clamato came with the years and the regions, and in parts of Mexico what this page calls a Michelada is a Chelada and vice versa. Every bar has its own, and that is correct.
Sources
- Saveur, 'The Michelada', 2012 (article)
- Difford's Guide, Michelada, 2015 (reference)
- Garrett Oliver, The Oxford Companion to Beer, 2011 (book)
Strength. About 0.9 US standard drinks at an estimated 3.1% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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