Author/s:
Issue: August 27, 2001
It translates roughly, to "My cold beer." Michelada a spicy beer-based cocktail that has been cooling Mexican palates for a
few years, and it is rapidly gaining adherents north of the border. Basically, consumers are ordering beer, accompanied by a highball glass that is rimmed with salt, and filled with ice and three fingers of a strange
mixture that includes all or most of the following: lime juice, tabasco, worcestershire, soy sauce, pepper and (in some cases) Maggi soup flavorings.
Beer marketers can't seem to figure out where the craze came from.
Although salt-encrusted beer glasses with lime wedges have been common in Mexican resort communities, this cocktail has more complex origins. According to one Mexican analyst, the roots of Michelada may run deep in
Mexican culture.
"Since pre-Hispanic times," he said, "Mexicans have a tradition of drinking foamy, frothy beverages. You can see them in the Mayan Codex."
Whatever the origins of the Michelada
are, there is now a Texan poised to make a killing on the craze. Charles Davis, president of Habagallo Foods, in McAllen, Tex. (www.habagallo.com), plans to become the Michelada king, and currently owns the only company
marketing a michelada mix in the U.S. His mixture includes Worcestershire sauce, lime juice, tomato juice, celery salt, pepper and a dash of habanero pepper, priced at $3.99 for a 32-ounce jug. Davis observed that the
michelada is only now beginning to cross the border. "If I go further north than San Antonio, people don't know what I'm talking about," he said. "They serve micheladas in Houston, but not in Dallas."
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