There are more michelada recipes than one can shake a stick at, even with dedicated stick shaking. Then there’s the argument that a true michelada doesn’t have tomato juice. Okay. I can get down with that. But then we get into Clamatos, Cheladas, Cubanas, and more. So this is my take. It’s inspired by an old High School forensics teacher of mine who claimed he consumed “beer with tomato juice” while on stakeouts in the CIA and my weekend ‘go to’ beverage while living in the land of TexMex. It’s a Chelada. With Bloody Mary Mix. And occasionally one or two other additions, pending the occasion (and my mood).

Ingredients

6 oz. Mexican lager (dark or light) 2 oz. tequila 6 oz. Bloody Mary Mix 1 lime ¼ cup kosher or margarita salt 1 tsp. chipotle powder or smoked paprika

Steps

Wet the rim of a glass with a lime wedge On a small plate, combine the salt and chile powder Roll the rim of the glass (either one side or the full monty) in the salt mixture. I prefer a lot of salt, so I even let some of the salt fall into the glass. Others may prefer to keep the salt limited to the outer rim. Fill the glass with ice. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice; add the bloody mary mix, juice of one lime, and tequila. Shake vigorously until well chilled. Pour into the salt rimmed glass. Add the beer and garnish with a lime wedge.





Variations

Skip the bloody mary mix and double the amount of lime juice. Add ½ jalapeno to the cocktail shaker, muddle, and proceed with recipe. Mix in a dash or two of Tabasco sauce. Or Worcestershire. Or both.

Bloody Mary Version

All of the aforementioned ingredients also make for one hell of a Mexican Bloody Mary. If I’m going to drink a traditional Bloody Mary, I like to add a few ounces of Guinness or an Oatmeal stout to round out the flavor and add a bit of depth. The same thought is applied to this recipe..





To make, double the amount of Bloody Mary mix and half the beer. Add two dashes of worcestershire sauce, a tablespoon of the sauce from a can of chipotles in adobo, and garnish with pickled vegetables (recommended: pickled carrots and jalapenos). Don’t skimp on the tequila, either..





Simple, right? It’s also a great hangover cure. Heck, you can even leave out the hard liquor if you really want to. But where’s the fun in that??