Michelada Pop

One of the most memorable red beers I ever had was sitting on a rock in my bathing suit, next to a lake in the afternoon. Pouring V8 into a bottle of Labatt Blue. Even the inevitable overflow of beer and tomato juice couldn’t ruin in. Every beer and tomato juice cocktail since reminds me of that sunny afternoon. All the more reason to drink them on a snowy day and think of summer.

The other day I was listening to The Sporkful podcast*, episode “Coming Out at Christmas with Hannah Hart of My Drunk Kitchen” recorded at LA’s Diablo Tacos restaurant. Hannah Hart describes a drink served at Diablo made using a frozen pop of all the Michelada ingredients dropped into a beer. Aside from sounding super novel and fun, it seemed like a good idea to solve the ice problem. I am not a fan of ice in red beers because it waters it down, but without it you get warm tomato juice.

I adapted and reduced this recipe from Bon Appetit to make the pops. It comes out to around two servings at 4oz per pop and 4oz of beer to top. I needed more than 4oz of beer to cover my pop because of the glass I picked.

MICHELADA POP

8oz chilled Clamato

~8oz chilled Mexican lager

1 oz fresh lime juice

1/4 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp. hot sauce

1/4 tsp. Maggi Seasoning

1/2 Tbsp. kosher salt (for rim)

Lime wedges for garnish

If clam juice squicks you out, just use regular tomato juice. But please do try it if you are on the fence. It adds a savory, salty richness.

Fresh lime juice.

I have these pop molds. I like them, however the top that comes with the mold doesn’t really work for this application. The handle gets in the way while you drink. 

So instead I used some long drink stirring sticks I snagged at work. A regular pop stick would work too.

To hold them in the middle of the pop while it freezes, I used a candle making trick. Cut a piece of masking tape and use the tip of a knife to make a cut in it.

Fill your pops. Not quite to the top if you are using the tape method.

Tape over the top.

And slide the stick in! It will sink to the bottom. But since you aren’t holding this in your hand it doesn’t matter if there isn’t much stick.

Freeze overnight. I didn’t use a Mexican lager. I used this delicious green chili beer by Tommyknocker.

Before serving, prepare your garnishes. Combine salt and chili powder in a small dish. Rub your lime slice around the rim of your glass and dip in the salt.

I run the pop mold under hot water to make it easier to remove.

I used a pint glass and it ended up being too tall. Pick something smaller and shorter if you have it. Pop your pop in.

Top with beer.

These pops are very solid and take a while to melt into your beer so this is a slow drink.

Melted pop! Yum! I continue to top with beer as the pop melts.

*You should check it out, Dan Pashman’s contagious laugh is the cherry on top of this food podcast.