One of the good things that spring and summer are bringing to some of us is the Michelada, or having a glass of beer the Mexican way. A friend of mine taught me this recipe back in the distant year of 2006 or 2007 and I preserved it, with a few tweaks to my liking.

Key ingredients

• A big glass, a plate, and a sharp knife;
• 500 ml of cold beer, preferably lager, not too strong (under 4.5 – 5% ABV); Corona is OK, too;
• some coarse sea salt;
• one lemon (or lime);
• Tabasco sauce and/or some spices of your choice;
• 2-3 ice cubes (to keep the Michelada cool in the heat of the summer day).

Preparation

1. Cut the lemon (or lime) in two and apply some of the juice to the rim of the glass.
2. Pour a small circle of coarse sea salt on the plate, turn the glass upside down and briefly press its rim onto it. If done well, now there’ll be a tiny bit of sea salt on the rim of the glass. Reverse the glass again.
3. Squeeze half of the lemon into the glass and add the ice.
4. Drop a few drops of Tabasco sauce onto the ice. You can also add some other spices (if your stomach permits, of course) such as ground red chili peppers, etc.
5. Slowly pour the cold beer until it almost reaches the edge of the glass. (Note: For the Michelada, best is to have as little foam as possible. If there’s foam and it rises abruptly to the top of the glass, it’ll wash out the sea salt — something which you’d like to avoid.)
6. Cut another slice from the other half of the lemon and add it to the beer. Done! This drink is best served on the terrace (or in the garden), with a book of your choice, or with friends. :-)

*Important!* Do not expect do be able to do any serious work after having one or two Micheladas — so it is best to serve it late in the evening and not too often. :-) Also, you could prepare the Michelada with a low-alcohol, or even non-alcoholic beer, but of course the taste would not be the same.

Further reading

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelada
• https://jeffreymorgenthaler.com/michelada/