How to drink a cheap Mexican beer in Texas.
Created | Updated Aug 20, 2003
To understand the phenomenon of Mexican beer and American beer in general, we need to clear up a few issues. In Texas, it is very, very, very hot. In the summer, it rarely dips below 95 degrees fahrenheit for about four months on end. Consequently, Texans and their friends south of the border need a beverage that will not sit in the stomach, that they can drink a lot of and since they drink a lot of it, it must be cheap. Enough introductions, on to the subject.
Mexican beer shares many qualities with American brews, but are enjoyed in a different manner. It is not necessary to drink a Mexican beer in a Mexican food restaurant, but it helps. To find the proper restaurant, make sure no white folk (gringos to our south of the border compadres) actually work in the kitchen or the bar and look for a patio or outside sitting area. Order whatever you want, a combination platter is preferable because it is usually cheaper and offers a wide variety of food1. Next, order a Mexican beer, choose from the following list: Tecate, Dos Equis, Carta Blanca or Modelo Especial2. We are looking for cheap mexican beer, there is a phenomenon taking place in Mexico much like the mircobrewery explosion in the states and they offer many tasty beers, but this article is focusing on the cheap variety. Make sure the beer you choose comes with three distinct items. This deserves a new paragraph.
Three key ingredients must arrive at the table along with your tortilla chips, salsa and freshly opened beer. A small, chilled glass is the first. It is imperative to drink a mexican beer out of a six ounce glass that has been thoroughly chilled. Some strange processs involving the beer molecules occur when they touch the cold glass, it turns a below-average beer into a taste sensation. Next, slices of lime. Usually the slice of lime will come perched on the rim of the glass, sometimes it comes in a bowl and sometimes you have to ask for them3. After filling the glass with beer, squeeze the lime, just a bit, and drop it in the glass. The final ingredient which must be included with your Mexican beer (not to mention your chips) is salt. Shake a small amount of salt into the beer (to taste) and watch the head reappear. Too much salt will have the beer foaming and spilling, so be careful. Now, sit back, and drink. This cold concoction should have even the pastiest of Englishmen feeling cool on a hot day. You may even begin to understand Texans a little more. Cheers and happy drinking.
1 - The Mexican food combination plate was allegedly invented in Austin, TX. Several restaurants offer more than 20 combination plates which revolve around the same five ingredients.
2 - Only drink Corona if you are desparate. They don't drink it in Mexico, they sell it to dumb gringos.
3 - A good way to tell if you picked the wrong restaurant.
Mexican beer shares many qualities with American brews, but are enjoyed in a different manner. It is not necessary to drink a Mexican beer in a Mexican food restaurant, but it helps. To find the proper restaurant, make sure no white folk (gringos to our south of the border compadres) actually work in the kitchen or the bar and look for a patio or outside sitting area. Order whatever you want, a combination platter is preferable because it is usually cheaper and offers a wide variety of food1. Next, order a Mexican beer, choose from the following list: Tecate, Dos Equis, Carta Blanca or Modelo Especial2. We are looking for cheap mexican beer, there is a phenomenon taking place in Mexico much like the mircobrewery explosion in the states and they offer many tasty beers, but this article is focusing on the cheap variety. Make sure the beer you choose comes with three distinct items. This deserves a new paragraph.
Three key ingredients must arrive at the table along with your tortilla chips, salsa and freshly opened beer. A small, chilled glass is the first. It is imperative to drink a mexican beer out of a six ounce glass that has been thoroughly chilled. Some strange processs involving the beer molecules occur when they touch the cold glass, it turns a below-average beer into a taste sensation. Next, slices of lime. Usually the slice of lime will come perched on the rim of the glass, sometimes it comes in a bowl and sometimes you have to ask for them3. After filling the glass with beer, squeeze the lime, just a bit, and drop it in the glass. The final ingredient which must be included with your Mexican beer (not to mention your chips) is salt. Shake a small amount of salt into the beer (to taste) and watch the head reappear. Too much salt will have the beer foaming and spilling, so be careful. Now, sit back, and drink. This cold concoction should have even the pastiest of Englishmen feeling cool on a hot day. You may even begin to understand Texans a little more. Cheers and happy drinking.
1 - The Mexican food combination plate was allegedly invented in Austin, TX. Several restaurants offer more than 20 combination plates which revolve around the same five ingredients.
2 - Only drink Corona if you are desparate. They don't drink it in Mexico, they sell it to dumb gringos.
3 - A good way to tell if you picked the wrong restaurant.
