“This drink is about the beginning point of beer,” Sean Beck says about the chelada. As the beverage director at H Town Restaurant Group in Houston he serves numerous riffs on the michelada at URBE, a casual, street-eats-driven spot, to celebrate the many interpretations the beer cocktail takes throughout Mexico.
Beck uses this drink to subvert many notions about Mexican beverage culture, including the fact that not all Mexican beers need limes to mask their flavor and not all spirits come from agave. He uses guanábano liqueur from Yucután. If you have trouble finding guanábano, feel free to substitute peach liqueur or apricot brandy.
recipe 
yields
Makes 1 cocktail
½ ounce lime
½ ounce guanábano liqueur
Beer
Fresh thyme sprig for garnish
2 limes, zested
1 orange, zested
2 cups salt
Ingredients
Citrus-Salt
steps
Make the Citrus-Salt
- Use a microplane to zest limes and orange over a sheet pan and toast at 350 for 20 minutes, until the zest is dried.
- Using your hands, mix the dehydrated zest with the salt. Store mixture in a pint container.
Make the Drink
- Rim a pint glass with citrus-salt and fill with ice. Add lime, liqueur, and slowly stir in beer to fill glass. Garnish with thyme.
Date Published: 03.18.22
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- Created by Sean Beck of URBE
