It’s Cinco de Mayo and, in my family, it’s also my Dad’s birthday! The best part? He’s from Mexico! That’s like an American being born on the Fourth of July, right? Eh, not really. Cinco de Mayo isn’t that big of a deal there actually, it’s just a date to mark a battle, and subsequent victory, with the French. But this is the United States of America, people, and here Cinco de Mayo calls for one thing – a fiesta with plenty of cervesa!
Being half-Mexican my sister Vanessa and I were lucky to grow up with exposure to both cultures, though our childhoods tended to lean more toward suburbia complete with the black lab (Sadie!) and weekend camping trips up the mountain. But my Dad did a pretty good job of teaching us about our Hispanic heritage and forever imprinted on us a set of incredibly high standards when it comes to Mexican food & drink (it’s near impossible to find some proper tamales! And why are Cuervo and Patrón so popular??). Although my Dad has never been much of a beer drinker, when he does have a cold brew it’s usually a Mexican beer, so what better participant for a blind Mexican beer taste-taste!
So in honor of Cinco de Mayo and fiestas, namely my Dad’s birthday fiesta, I decided to conduct a taste-test of a few common Mexican beers, such as the type you would use to chase tequila with at a bar on the fifth of May. Also, this test would have to be “blind” since we all unavoidably have a bias towards some.
Then my totally awesome sister offered to bring along another beer from Mexico with a slightly better reputation for us to sample and the party was on! Now I’ve had my fair share of Mexican brews, so even though I’ve gravitated more toward bitter IPAs and hearty Stouts, I knew what I was getting myself into and was fairly confident that I’d be able to tell the beers apart.
For this taste-test I first selected Corona since it is the best-selling nondomestic beer in the US and one of the top five bestsellers in the world, with availability in over 150 countries. Next was Tecate, my family’s personal favorite, yet one of the least known by non-Hispanic people, at least in my experience. And last I chose Modelo Especial, the sister beer to Negro Modelo, mainly because I’ve never tried it despite the fact that you see it everywhere.
In addition to my Dad, sister, and I, Vanessa’s boyfriend Jens decided to join the fun and I also elected my lovely husband, Levi, to be in charge of conducting the test and setting us all up with the three beers in tasting cups simply labeled 1, 2, & 3.
And the verdict? As it turns out Jens, the one person with zero Mexican blood, was the only one of us able to correctly identify all three! And the taste? Here’s a sampling of a few critiques:
Beer #1 (Corona): “import-lagery”, “basic”, “dirty”
Beer #2 (Tecate): “surprisingly fruity”, “muted flavor”, “better!”
Beer #3 (Modelo): “very watery”, “watery clean”, “lacking any flavor”
Our conclusion? Beer #2 was everyone’s clear favorite (yay Tecate!) and Modelo basically tastes like water. No one wants water when you’re expecting beer!
We all had higher hopes for our sampling of Bohemía, a lesser-known Mexican beer with a reputation of being pretty tasty. Bohemía is a German-style Pilsner produced in Monterrey, Mexico by Cervecía Cuauhtémoc-Moctezuma (FEMSA), one of the two major brewers who, along with Grupo Modelo, control 90% of the beer market in Mexico.
First brewed in 1905 when Mexican brewers decided they needed a premium beer to compete with the expanding European market, the name Bohemía was a nod to the region in the Czech Republic known for its hops and where they’re still imported from for this particular beer to this day.
At first pour I was slightly concerned because the color and clarity was almost identical to the previous beers we had already tested out – lots of bubbles, golden yellow color, and a thin, watery head that quickly dissipated. The smell wasn’t much different either with that universal lager aroma, complete with sweet maltiness.
Yet this beer was billed as having a significant hop flavor and a density one typically doesn’t find in beers of this variety. Bohemía may talk the talk, but would the taste be able to walk the walk?? The answer is yes, yes it did. The smoothness of this beer not only walked all over my taste buds, it strutted!
I was really not expecting the depth of flavor present, especially when considering the 4.7% ABV, and how this Pilsner didn’t feel “thin” as the others did. And, dare I say, there was some actual hop flavor and lingering bitterness to savor as opposed to the malty sweetness typical of lagers.
All in all, if you can find Bohemía, it is the beer this half-Mexican would recommend to wash down the tacos and guacamole at your fiesta this year! ¡Feliz Cinco de Mayo y salud!