Michelada with House Tomato-Clam Mix and Chile-Lime Salt Rim

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

A cold, savory, wide-awake beer cocktail built the way the good cantinas do it: a house tomato-and-clam base seasoned with lime, Worcestershire, seasoning sauce and hot sauce, poured over a frozen glass rimmed in homemade chile-lime salt, then topped with a crisp Mexican lager. The mix takes five minutes, keeps three days in the fridge, and turns a $2 beer into something people ask you about.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp ancho or guajillo chile powder
• 1/2 tsp cayenne or ground piquín chile
• 1 tsp finely grated lime zest
• 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 lime wedge, for wetting the rim

• 3/4 cup tomato juice, well chilled
• 1/4 cup bottled clam juice, well chilled
• 3 tbsp fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp seasoning sauce (Maggi-style liquid seasoning) or soy sauce
• 2 tsp Mexican-style hot sauce, such as a Valentina- or Cholula-style bottle
• 1/2 tsp finely grated onion or 1/4 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 pinch celery salt

• 2 12 oz bottles Mexican-style lager, very cold
• 2 cups ice cubes
• 2 lime wedges, for garnish
• 2 celery stalks or thin cucumber spears (optional)

Instructions

1. Put two 16-oz pint glasses or clay mugs in the freezer for at least 20 minutes. A truly cold glass is the difference between a michelada and a warm tomato beer.
2. Make the chile-lime salt: on a small plate, rub together the kosher salt, ancho chile powder, cayenne, lime zest and sugar with your fingertips until the zest is evenly distributed and the mixture smells sharp and citrusy, about 30 seconds. Spread it into an even layer wider than the mouth of your glass.
3. Make the mix: in a 2-cup measuring cup or small pitcher, whisk together the tomato juice, clam juice, lime juice, Worcestershire, seasoning sauce, hot sauce, grated onion, black pepper and celery salt until smooth. Taste it straight — it should be aggressively salty, sour and savory, since the beer will dilute it by half. Adjust with more lime for brightness or more hot sauce for heat.
4. Rim the glasses: pull a glass from the freezer, run a cut lime wedge around the outer edge of the rim (going 1/2 inch down the outside, not the inside), then roll the wet edge through the chile-lime salt at a 45-degree angle so the salt clings to the outside only. Repeat with the second glass.
5. Fill each glass with about 1 cup of ice, keeping the ice below the rim so it doesn't knock the salt off.
6. Divide the mix between the two glasses, about 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons each. Do not stir yet.
7. Tilt each glass and pour the cold lager down the inside wall slowly, stopping when the foam reaches the rim — you'll use roughly two-thirds of each bottle. Let the head settle for 15 seconds, then top up with the remaining beer.
8. Give each drink one gentle stir with a long spoon or a celery stalk — just enough to marry the mix and beer without killing the carbonation. Garnish with a lime wedge and a celery stalk or cucumber spear, and serve immediately with the rest of the beer bottle alongside for topping up.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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