Before we begin, I ask for your cooperation to pretend that we are anthropologists studying the way that Mexicans drink beer. I advise you to read this whole thing in a 1950s narrator’s voice with a mariachi jazz tune in the background.
It is undeniable that Mexico’s fascinating culinary tradition is closely linked to the chile pepper. Researchers have often pondered why this small (but feared) fruit has such a predominant presence in Mexican cuisine. The answers are simple. Chile grows in regions with hot climates, low humidity, and abundant sunlight, much like the weather in Mexico. Due to these conditions, and probably to the scarce variety of fruits and vegetables (otherwise, why would someone torture themselves getting spiced up), the earliest human settlements in Mexico domesticated chile peppers around 6,000 years ago. This marked the beginning of Mexican identity. Its importance remains so significant that Mexicans regularly consume chile, and some even dare to include it in their drinks.
Today, 8 billion liters of beer are consumed annually, making us the fourth-largest beer-consuming country in the world. But how do we drink our beer? In any way we can, but a michelada is one of the most popular ways.
What is a michelada?
The original michelada is a beer, preferably light, served in a glass rimmed with salt, ice, and lime juice. However, when most of us think of this cocktail, we imagine it with Clamato. It is said to have emerged in the 1970s in San Luis Potosí, in northern Mexico. The invention is attributed to Michel Ésper, who frequently attended a sports club where he would end his day with a well-deserved beer with a unique mix of his own invention. The cocktail became so popular at the club that people started ordering their michelada.
Another theory suggests that the word “michelada” is a mispronunciation of the phrase “mi chela helada” (my chilled beer), which was used in Nuevo León and other northern states to refer to beer with ice and lemon. Before everyone had a refrigerator at home, keeping beer at the right temperature was complicated. This might be one of the reasons why people in Mexico started adding ice to their beer. Truth be told, its origins remain uncertain.
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The recipe
- 1 cup of tomato juice with clam sauce (Clamato)
- Juice of 2 limes
- Worcestershire sauce to taste
- Black seasoning sauce (Maggi) to taste
- Drops of Tabasco sauce to taste
- Ice to taste
- 1 celery stick
- 1 light beer
Moisten the rim of the glass with half a lime and salt. Add ice with the Clamato. Add the lime juice along and sauces to taste. Finish with the light beer and mix with a previously washed celery stick. You’ll have a lot of beer left over but that’s okay. Just keep refilling your glass and enjoy.
So why do Mexicans drink micheladas?
Oh, the taste! All the flavors that the tongue can identify in just one sip! Sweetness, saltiness, and sourness work together to create a perfect balance, and then, when everything is just right: a punch of spiciness! Just writing it down makes me feel like I’m in some sort of Mexican heaven.
Apart from the flavor, we argue that Clamato contains electrolytes that can rehydrate us, vitamin C from the lime juice that can strengthen our immune system, antioxidants from the tomato that can help maintain our youthfulness, and the capsaicin from the chili that can help keep us alert. While these claims haven’t been scientifically proven, we feel that our health improves every time we drink it.
If you truly want to experience and understand the Mexican way of life and culture, you need to have a michelada con Clamato. They are now found everywhere including restaurants, bars and street stalls. Identifying them has become increasingly complicated due to Mexican beer becoming more creatively expressed in variations such as licuachelas (michelada in a blender jar), gomichelas (michelada with gummy candies)*, cocochela (michelada with coconut), micheladas with seafood or micheladas with fruit. I suggest starting your michelada journey in moderation, then gradually trying the variations as you become more adventurous. ¡Salud!
*The author is a purist who believes micheladas can only be the recipe described above. She has expressed her concerns regarding why anyone would want seafood or gummies in their beer, or worse, smear their hand with a thick, sticky sauce that will destroy their intestinal health with combinations that seem to be taken from a science fiction book. With these thoughts in mind, try them at your own risk.
María Meléndez is a Mexico City food blogger and influencer.
