The beerified second cousin to the Bloody Mary is a drink for all hours of the day.
Every beer is a cocktail waiting to happen. From the shandy to the radler to the lagerita, a crisp can of Kölsch or a longneck cerveza is the kickoff point for a universe of drinks. But the alcohol content of the beer in question matters not, and with all the wonderful options we have today for nonalcoholic beer, a lovely NA pilsner or lager might be just the thing to build a beautiful beer cocktail around.
I encountered one such incredible NA beer cocktail recently at Este, the outstanding Mexico-forward seafood restaurant in Austin, Texas, operated by chef Fermín Núñez. Núñez is from the city of Torreon—smack dab in the middle of Mexico—but his love for the ocean is undeterred by geography, and in Austin—smack dab in the middle of Texas—Este’s grilled fish, epic shell-on prawns, and wildly inventive raw bar has drawn acclaim from far and wide, including national best new restaurant list inclusions in 2023 from Bon Appétit, Esquire, and the New York Times.
The drinks program at Este is no afterthought. Sit at the bar when you visit, and you’ll be given a free show of balletic cocktail builds and salted rims. Beer cocktails are given pride of place at Este, says beverage director Patrick Wasetis, because they’re so popular to drink at the mariscos joints back in Mexico. “These drinks are sessionable,” he tells me, “and they pair really well with our style of food, which is hands-on, messy, and a lot of fun.”
On the menu at Este, beer cocktails appear under the heading “Preparadas”—prepared beers—and in America, the best known of this style is undoubtedly the michelada. I ordered mine, ready to drink what might essentially be a sort of beerified Bloody Mary (or “red beer,” as it’s known in the Midwest), but I took advantage of the bar’s option to enjoy my michelada with a local nonalcoholic beer, brewed by Rick’s Near Beer. What came out totally surprised me: instead of a heavy, blood-red sanguineous elixir, the michelada at Este was light, complex, and profoundly refreshing, redolent of citrus and with a distinct purple note (in both color and taste) that I couldn’t quite place.
Wasetis and the team at Este achieve the lightness by starting with clarified tomato water, which gets amplified by the addition of smoked Maldon salt. To this a house-made sangrita mixture is added, along with a mix of fresh fruit juices and pomegranate molasses (the source of the mysterious purple flavor). An additional mixture known as petróleo is included as well, an umami bomb made with Worcestershire sauce, Maggi, and chile vinegar.
Built together with a refreshing Texas pilsner or Mexican imported lager, this is the greatest imaginable pairing for Este’s unapologetically fun seafood. But it tastes great on your front porch, too—here’s how to play along at home.