This Mango Michelada is a Mexican beer cocktail that’s sweet and spicy and perfect for summer sipping!
Although the michelada is a Mexican cocktail, the only two experiences I’ve had with it have been in Portland, Oregon.
The first was at a popular Mexican restaurant on Mississippi Avenue – Por Que No? – I had the traditional Mexican Michelada which was a cocktail of beer, lime, hot sauce, and tomato juice, served up with a salted rim.
It was the perfect drink to go alongside my Pork Belly Tacos and Halibut Ceviche, and, to be honest, it pretty much cured my wine headache that was tugging on my shirt strings all morning from the night before…
My second experience with the michelada was a totally new one altogether – Except for the fact that that darn wine snuck up on me again…
This time, I ordered my michelada from Spitz, a new Mediterranean restaurant that just opened up in our neighborhood. And, I paired it with the “Hangover Basket” – only appropriate – consisting of a basket of fries, fried eggs, onions, peppers, tomatoes, American cheese, feta, pepperoncinis, olives and garlic aioli. I mean, if that can’t cure you, nothing can.
And that michelada?
Totally unexpected. I mean, first – Who orders a michelada from a Mediterranean restaurant? And second – This was a mango michelada – made with mango puree, cayenne pepper, fresh lime and salt. It was sweet, tangy, a little bit spicy and the most beautiful color of tropical orange. I was smitten…
So – I set out on the quest to make my own version of the mango michelada at home.
I started with the mango.
I thought about pureeing some frozen mango and adding it into the mix. But, I thought that may be a bit too thick. I definitely didn’t want my michelada to have a smoothie like texture – I mean, eeww. But, I did want it to have a noticeable mango quality to it.
So, I ended up scouring the shelves at the supermarket and found some mango juice. It ended up fitting the bill perfectly. It mixed nicely with the beer, wasn’t too thick, and was super refreshing.
To tart things up a bit, I added in the juice of half a lime and then I sprinkled in some hot sauce too, just to really give this cocktail a good bit of oomph. But the final kicker came with the salted rim.
Instead of just plain salt, I combined a bit of chili powder with some coarse kosher salt – about a 1-1 ratio. Then, I ran a lime around the rim of my glass and gave it a nice coating in aforementioned chili powder-salt mixture. Not only did it look pretty, but it gave such great flavor to the michelada. Kind of like a cherry does on top of a sundae…
The chili-salt rim is definitely the cherry on top of this Mexican michelada cocktail!
Have you tried a michelada before? What about a mango michelada? Are you feeling me on this one… ?
More mango recipes
More spicy cocktail recipes
Full Recipe
Mango Micheladas
Ingredients
- 1 12-ounce bottle chilled Mexican beer
- ½ lime (juiced)
- 3/4 cup mango juice (or mango nectar)
- 1 Tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon chili powder
- Hot sauce ((optional))
- Jalapeno (for garnish (optional))
Instructions
- Combine salt and chile powder in a shallow dish. Rub a lime wedge around the rim of a tall glass and then press the rim into the salt-chile mixture to coat.
- Fill glass 2/3 full with ice and then add lime juice and mango juice. Add in a few drops of hot sauce if desired and stir to combine. Top with beer and serve remaining beer on the side (you may have extra beer, but you can continue adding to your glass as you drink it down).
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