Drink of the Month: Michelada

With Summer winding-down I am moving on from the citrus cocktails of summer and into fall-spiced ones.  But, Texas is still hot, so I can't help but crave Micheladas.  

A Michelada is the product of a beer that married a bloody mary.....but so much better.  With a small addition of bloody mary mix, lime juice, worcheshire, and hot sauce, it gives the beer a tang and a kick.  

Served over ice, a Michelada is refreshing, spicy, and too easy to chug within two minutes of making it.  

Michelada, serves one

• 12oz beer, preferably a Kolsch, Lager, or Mexican Lager 
• 2oz Spicy Bloody Mary Mix
• 1oz lime juice
• 1/2 oz worcheshire
• 1/2 oz hot sauce 
• ice
• garnish: lime wedge

Drink of the Week #10: Sweet Heat Rita

Summer is margarita season.  More than any other season, I find myself wanting to sip on an ice cold tequila rita in the summer.  I don't typically make ritas at home, because every time I have tried to create a simple rita on the rocks it turns out terrible, but I had inspiration for this one.  

With the plethora of fresh market peaches everywhere right now, I figured now is as good of a time as any to create a rita, a peach rita that is.  Of course, peaches can be very sweet and overpowering so it needed to be paired with another bold flavor to balance it out...jalapenos!

The Sweet Heat Rita is the perfect balance of sweetness and spiciness with a kick of tequila flavor.  The great thing about the spice is you get to decide how spicy you want yours to be.  Slices of fresh jalapenos simmer at low with a bit of honey and water, to create a healthier simple syrup with an infusion of spicy jalapeno flavor.  The more jalapeno in the liquid, and the longer it simmers, the hotter the syrup.  

Being a combination of spicy and sweet I found the addition of salt to add a nice layer to the concoction.  So often the salted rim is too much salt, or too little.  Adding the salt to the drink itself instead of using it as a garnish was a great idea, guaranteed to be in every sip.