It was Cinco de Mayo, a much celebrated date in Chicago, and Bobby decided to introduce me to my first beer cocktail, the Michelada.
I did the research and the images of the Michelada concerned me. It looked a lot like a Bloody Mary. If you recall the Bloody Mary episode, I was not a fan. But I am on a mission, I will not shrink from something I expect I will not appreciate. I’ll try anything and let the experience come…and record my dissatisfaction.
The Michelada is purely of Mexican origins and is considered a hangover cure. It is a light beer flavored with lime, peppers, chili powder, salt, and or hot sauce. The name comes from the etymology of the word in Spanish, Mi Chela Helada, which means in a roundabout way, My Cold Beer. The tricky part is the word Chela which means, “blonde, blue-eyed woman” (in Spain a Swedish woman is called a “sueca”), and once again we have a Mexican culture equating women with refreshing alcoholic beverages.
And as expected, the Michelada did not make me happy. It was a beer with a lot of stuff dumped in it. It was chewy. But it is noteworthy that I was the only one who did not care for this beer cocktail. Everybody else said it was a winner. That says to me that it is probably something everybody should give a shot and that I am, more or less, just a big baby.
