Mexico’s Chelada Beer Cocktail Will Change Your Summer

This chelada beer cocktail is so refreshing with just a hint of saltiness to keep you cool this summer.

Remember the year that all the mass produced beer came out with the genius idea to add lime to beer.

Well Mexicans had already been doing it for eons, and with better quality ingredients. And then serving them with mexican antojitos or Mayan sikil pak.

Like the Bloody Mary in the United States or the Canadian Caesar drink, the Mexican chelada is considered a hangover cure. 

 
In Oaxaca, Chelada beer cocktail are sueros and in some places it’s called michelada chilena or Chilean micheladas.

Whatever you call them, they are delicious in the summer.

Cerveza Preparada – The Original Beer Cocktail

Both the chelada is a cerveza preparada, which essentially means prepared beer or beer cocktails.  Mexico has the some of the best beer cocktails around the world.

Other Mexican beer cocktails include: 

• Chamochela
• Chavela
• Michegomita
• Clamato con Chela
• Michelada con Clamato
• Ojo Rojo (red eye)

Chelada vs Michelada

In some regions cheladas are called micheladas and that can be confusing as they are two different drinks. 

A michelada is a prepared darker beer such as Modelo Negro with Clamato or tomato juice along with hot sauces, soy sauce, worcestershire sauce, salt and lime

A chelada beer drink is simpler, it uses a light lager (like Modelo Especial) and lime juice in a rimmed glass.

It is not spicy.

Both are garnished with a lime wedge.

People say that the name comes from chela helada, chela is a slang word for blond – so it means frosty blond meaning frosty beer, and was shortened to chelada. 

Classic Chelada Recipe

As this chelada beer cocktail only has three ingredients you need to ensure they are high quality:

1. A cold, light beer cerveza clara. Chilling the glass also helps. 
2. Fresh lime juice, not bottled lime juice. Juice it in advance to chill it.
3. Coarse sea salt (I like this inexpensive one) but I actually prefer a twist with a bit of tajin seasoning. 

Purists say that ice should not be added as the beer and lime juice are cold. Also ice dilutes the flavour.

But on a hot summer day that beer isn’t staying cold and I don’t like people telling me how to drink my beer.

Pin it: Chelada Beer

• 

•