Chelada
ClassicThe Michelada stripped to essentials — cold lager, fresh lime and a salt rim.
Clean, bright and thirst-quenching. Fresh lime lifts the malt of the lager while the salted rim rounds off the bitterness and makes each sip taste crisper and colder. There is no heat and no tomato here — just beer at its most refreshing, sharpened by citrus. The lightest possible way to dress up a lager.
Ingredients
- 1 oz Lime Juice
- 1 pinch Salt
- 12 oz Lager
- Salt rim · optional garnish
- lime wedge · optional garnish
Method
- 1
Rim a chilled pint glass with salt and fill with ice.
- 2
Add the fresh lime juice and a small pinch of salt.
- 3
Top slowly with cold lager.
- 4
Stir once and garnish with a lime wedge.
The Story
The Chelada is the Michelada's minimalist cousin — the name shares the same root, *chela* being Mexican slang for beer. Where the Michelada builds a spiced, savory base of tomato, hot sauce and Worcestershire, the Chelada keeps only what a cold beer truly needs on a hot day: lime and salt. It is the everyday version, poured across Mexico and the American Southwest whenever a plain lager wants a little more life. Simple enough to make anywhere, it is proof that two ingredients and a salted rim can turn a beer into a cocktail.
Recipe card
The whole recipe in one shareable image.
