Quote:The Michelada is a popular Mexican alcoholic beverage of a genre known in Spanish as cerveza preparada (prepared beer) and in English as a variety of cocktail. There are several variations. In some cases it is similar to a Bloody Mary but containing beer instead of vodka, although a less complicated concoction of Mexican beer with sauces and lime juice added (see recipe below) is also referred to as a Michelada. The drink dates back to the 1940s, when mixing beer with hot sauce or salsa became popular in Mexico. In recent years, the drink has begun to become popular in the United States, and now various ready-made mixes are marketed and sold to US consumers.

Simply mixing beer with tomato juice is a popular version of cerveza preparada, but if lacking the salsa inglesa (Worcestershire sauce) or Maggi sauce, this concoction would usually not be referred as a michelada. If the Michelada has any type of hot sauce in it, in Mexico it may be called a "Michelada Cubana". The name is a double reference to both Cuba and the habanero pepper. The Habanero pepper is named after the capital of Cuba, "La Habana", and is one of the most intensely spicy peppers in the world and so this spicy drink takes its name as a strained reference to both.

Recently, major American beer produces have begun marketing cervezas preparada, illustrating the wide variety of recipes in the Chelada/ Michelada category. For example, SABMiller produces Miller Chill which is a "Chelada-style light lager with a hint of salt and lime". Going a different route, Anheuser-Busch is manufacturing Budweiser Chelada as a combination of lager, clamato, lime juice, and salt.