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Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May"), sometimes also called El Día de la Batalla de Puebla (The Day of the Battle of Puebla) commemorates the Mexican army's victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. It is celebrated primarily in the Mexican state of Puebla, but has also become very popular in the United State.
For me it's an excuse to experiment with beer cocktails. Why? Because ... well ... beer! I love craft ales, especially American craft ales. I prefer wheat ales, farm-house ales, stouts and imperial pale ales (IPA). But I don't like lagers. I really don't. It's a personal preference thing. But hey, it's a holiday so ... I need to push past my reservations.
So a quick search in Google with keywords "Mexican beer cocktail" and I found out about the Michelada aka Mexican Bloody Beer. Besides the Mojito, The Blood Mary is one of the few cocktail I enjoy so I was excited to try a beer version. I also found out after talking to my wife that I had had the Michelada before. It was a long time ago after participating in an event in East Harlem. My wife's sister and her husband were in the city and wanted to hang out for dinner. We walked a bit before settling for dinner at the Lexington Avenue location of El Paso.
The Michelada, is a Mexican cerveza preparada made with beer (I used Corona Extra), lime juice, and assorted sauces, spices, and peppers. I decided on a recipe from Food 52 which includes tomato juice and Worcestershire, which I enhanced with a dash of Tico's Bhut Jalokia hot sauce. In case you don't know the Bhut Jalokia is the Indian Ghost pepper; the second hottest pepper in the world. Yes, I want to feel the musket burn from El Día de la Batalla de Puebla.
While the Michelada has no direct connection with El Día de la Batalla de Puebla it seemed the most fitting cocktail to commemorate a battle with the French.
