Michelada
Collins GlassBuild
Origin
Cantina Andaluza, San Luis Potosí
Mexican folk drink with multiple competing origin claims; the Cantina Andaluza / Michel Esper attribution is the most-cited (~1960s), but regional Mexican variants of beer + lime + spices predate it
Mexico's answer to a Bloody Mary — cold lager spiked with lime, salt, and heat.
Ingredients
- 12 oz Mexican Lager (Modelo Especial, Pacifico, or Tecate Light)
- 1 oz fresh Lime juice
- ½ tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 4–6 dashes Hot Sauce (Tabasco or similar)
- Chili-Salt rim (chili powder + salt)
- Lime wedge, for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the rim: mix equal parts chili powder and salt on a small plate. Rub a lime wedge around the rim of a chilled collins glass and dip it into the chili-salt.
- Fill the glass with ice.
- Add the lime juice, Worcestershire, and hot sauce directly to the glass.
- Top slowly with the cold lager, stirring gently to combine.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.
Tips
- If making a chili-salt rim from scratch isn't feasible, Tajín is the standard Mexican brand of chili-lime salt and works perfectly.
- Mexican lagers (Modelo Especial, Pacifico, Tecate Light) are traditional, but any clean pale lager works.
- Adjust the hot sauce to taste — some prefer a heavier hand with Worcestershire and a lighter touch on heat.
Notes
A Michelada is a template, not a fixed recipe. Some versions add tomato or Clamato (sometimes called a "Cubana" or "Chelada"); the version above is the leaner, citrus-forward style typical of northern Mexico.