Sangre De Cristo In Mazatlan

by Amy Sherman

on 01/28/12 at 09:00 AM

In Mazatlan last year I ate tons of fantastically fresh seafood. There seemed to be endless platters of monstrously large creamy oysters, grilled snapper, garlicky fried chunks of octopus, and lots of shrimp both cooked and raw. My favorite spots for seafood in Mazatlan were El Cuchupetas, near the airport, and Diego's on the Beach in the Golden Zone. In town I watched the boats come in and saw the fisherman unloading their hauls, and nearby the shrimp ladies selling seafood, along Aquiles Serdan, between Luis Zuniga and Alejandro Quijano.

The natural thing to drink with all that seafood is the local beer, Pacifico, a Mexican pilsner style beer that dates back to 1900. The brewery was opened by three Germans and while now owned by a large, multinational company, it is still going strong. Unfortunately there were no brewery tours available while I was in town, but I certainly enjoyed plenty of the beer nonetheless. 

One of the ways to drink beer in Mexico is a Michelada or Chelada, also called Sangre de Cristo in Mazatlan. Light pilsner style beer like Pacifico is mixed with tomato juice or, as is common in Mazatlan, Clamato juice.

The rim of the glass is dipped in salt like it is for a Margarita. Just like a Bloody Mary you can doctor the drink with hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lime or lemon juice. While perfect for hot weather, I think this drink is also perfect with brunch or to serve at a Super Bowl party, perhaps?

Sangre de Cristo

Salt for rimming glass

Ice

1 12 ounce Pilsner style beer

1/2 cup Clamato or tomato juice, or more to your taste

1/2 lime or lemon, squeezed (save the rind)

Worcestershire sauce

Mexican hot sauce or Tabasco

Place enough salt in a shallow saucer to cover. Rub the rim of a glass with the reserved rind and dip the glass into the salt, then add a few cubes of ice to the glass. Add the beer, Clamato, lime juice, a few drops of Worcestershire sauce and hot sauce to taste to a pitcher and mix to combine. Pour into the prepared glass.