Michelada Vs. Bloody Mary: What's The Difference?

One of the best ways to spice up any cocktail is to, well, add a bit of spice. The classic margarita gets a facelift with the addition of muddled jalapeño, and a Moscow mule gives drinkers a fuzzy, almost-spicy flavor with its ginger beer. Those looking for a more intense kind of spice might turn to a cocktail that features hot sauce.

For decades, people have been indulging in two hot sauce-laced cocktails: the Bloody Mary and the Michelada. Both feature an added hint of heat, though the drinks themselves differ in their base. While one is commonly used as a morning hangover cure (though the effectiveness of this remedy is highly questionable), the other is a daytime drink that can also transition into the night. Exactly what is the difference between a Bloody Mary and a Michelada? It comes down to one main ingredient and a few garnishes.

It's believed that the Bloody Mary was first invented by a hotel bartender in New York City. According to Liquor.com, the drink originally contained seven basic ingredients: vodka as its alcohol element, tomato juice (of course), black pepper and Tabasco for spice, Worcestershire and celery salt for saltiness, and lemon juice for some brightness.

Recipes for the drink have varied through the years, with Bloody Maries becoming almost a meal in themselves. You can practically add a whole salad to one, according to the internet. It's not unusual to see an extreme Bloody Mary go viral, with the garnish being anything from a basic celery stalk to something truly unusual like a cheeseburger slider or crab cake.

While it's suggested that the Bloody Mary is a hangover cure, any drink with alcohol in it won't actually cure a hangover. According to Refinery29, it will just delay it by giving you a "hair of the dog" effect. It does make you feel better, but only temporarily, and it might end up making your symptoms worse later. Drinking more to counteract the effects of too much drinking is simply not healthy.

The one trait that separates a Michelada from most other cocktails is that it is a blend of hard liquor and beer. The beer serves as the drink's base, and MasterClass says it should be a Mexican-style, light-tasting beer. There are only three other main ingredients: lime juice, salt, and hot sauce, though chili powder can also be used.

Urban Matter says the Michelada may have first originated back in the 1940s when a Mexican general named Augusto Michel reportedly preferred drinking beer with salsa in it. Other stories say it was invented by a tennis player named Michel Esper, who enjoyed the cocktail after a match. Either of these origin stories does explain the name, at least, but there are many other tales of the drink's genesis, too.

Micheladas differ from Bloody Maries in that they swap tomato juice with beer and they also aren't served with quite as many bells and whistles as a Bloody Mary. They're often garnished with lime, and Wine Enthusiast reports that a few other garnishes can be added, such as jalapeños or celery spears.