Saturday 29 June 2013

Cervezas Preparadas


A cerveza preparada, as the name would suggest is a drink made from beer. This overall category encompasses micheladas, cheladas and clamatos.


I consider micheladas and cheladas as not including the tomato with the beer simply served over ice with the juice of a lime, a dash of worchester and some permutation of soy sauce, maggi sauce or hot sauce. This is a purely personal distinction as he terminology is not absolute and you will hear michelada also used to refer to cervezas preperadas that contain tomato or clamato.

Whatever the name used, there are basically three types. The simplest where the beer is spiked with salt and lime juice, one often sees drinkers squeezing the lime and adding a pinch of salt directly to the bottle of beer. It's a combination of that was very alien to me at first, but it is refreshing and the bitterness of the lime is offset by the salt (or vise versa) and the
end result is very refreshing.

Michelada


The second type, the one I refer to as a michelada is a beer, served over ice, with the juice of a lime, Worcester sauce and either soy or Maggi seasoning. The drink is normally served in a straight glass with the rim either salted or coated in a chile-lime type spice mix, and a dash of hot sauce is optional.


It is also possible to buy a pre-papared bottles of MicheMix to use instead of your preferred combination of the condiments, they are convenient, and don't taste bad, but seeing as they are substituting for items you have on hand already are unnecessary.

Clamato

The clamato takes the concept a step further and adds some clamato (or plain tomato juice) to the beer and condiments.

Somewhere between 1 measure of clamato to 2 or 3  measures of beer is the usual, but it's a metter of taste. The drink is normally served in a large heavy goblet shaped glass. The drink is a good hangover cure and has nursed me through a difficult morning or two, but more importantly it's a refreshing drink that's easy to take in the heat and cuts back the alcohol a bit.

Don't let your squeamishness at the thought of combining beer and Worcester or tomato deny you a treat!


PS
It occurs to me I've been using the term beer pretty loosely. It's normal when ordering a michelada that the server asks with what beer you would like it made. Personally I like Indio, but here in the north Tecate Light is a common choice. Pacifico which is light and crisp is also a good choice. (All are largers, even Indio which is amber).

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