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The Michelada Three Ways

A michelada makes a shandy embarrassed to be liquid.

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Jeremy Berger

By Jeremy Berger

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With such zealotry about craft beer (ahem), you could easily get your stein-holding hand lopped off for diluting a Green Flash or a Dogfish. And we’re not about to make a shandy from a Tej, but there is one beer cocktail that we’ll be drinking all summer long: the michelada, a Mexican standard made by mixing lager with a combination of ingredients that generally includes clamato, Maggi sauce, hot sauce and lime — all of it served over ice in a chili- and salt-rimmed glass.

Since summer is long and our thirst great, we caught up with our friends at The Third Man for two additional variations on the michelada: one with rhubarb and bourbon, the other with tequila and grapefruit. Drink up, and watch those hands.

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Traditional Michelada

traditional-michelada

Traditional Michelada
2 oz Michelada mix (using ingredients below)
Clamato juice
Maggi sauce
Lime juice
Pinch of salt
Spoonful of juice from canned chipotle peppers

Line glass with chili salt. Fill with ice. Pour in Michelada mix. Top with Pacifico beer.

Racy Rhubarb

racy-rhubarb

Racy Rhubarb
0.5 oz house-made rhubarb purée
0.5 oz simple syrup
Tarragon
1 oz Maker’s Mark

Shake all ingredients and pour into ice-filled glass. Top with Radeberger (or other pilsner). Garnish with rhubarb and tarragon.

You Miche Me Crazy

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You Miche Me Crazy
1 oz grapefruit juice
1 oz house made jalapeño infused tequila
Mint and basil

Shake all ingredients and pour into ice-filled, bacon- and chili salt-rimmed glass. Top with Schöfferhofer (or other hefeweizen). Garnish with mint and grapefruit slice.

Make It Yourself or Not

do-it-yourself-michelada

Big into the DIY movement? Brunch guests drink too fast? Don’t feel like waiting on your deadbeat friends? These are all good excuses to serve the micheladas in component form and allow your guests to mix them at the table. We’ve had ‘em this way at restaurants and we like the option to tinker with heat and citrus levels.

About the Restaurant: The three micheladas in this story were made by Erin Sullivan, bartender at The Third Man, a Viennese-inspired cocktail bar in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan. The bar’s interior evokes all the intrigue of the film noir classic. The recently-constructed patio, where we sipped these beer cocktails, is a good place to camp out and drink cocktails until 4 a.m. this summer.