photo by: plasticpeople

For those of you that don’t know, today is Cinco De Mayo (Mexican 4th of July). In my opinion, this is one of the two beer drinkingest holidays of the year (St. Patrick’s Day being the other). I know people get their drink on during other holidays of the year, but that’s just it…they’ll drink anything (beer, wine, vodka, ect.).

Cinco de Mayo has a heavy focus on enjoying a nice cold one.  Any holiday that allows me to enjoy a nice cold one is a good holiday in my books.

I have noticed a trend that I would like to try and stop. That is the connection of Cinco de Mayo with Corona. Now I’m not much of a fan of Mexican beers in general. I live in New Mexico (yes we are part of the U.S.) so I have my choice of them. But most Mexican beers just seem weak to me. They seem to be lacking a lot of flavor (or their core flavor is “suck”).

Then there is the whole lime thing. I asked one of my Hispanic friends once why Mexican beers always come with a lime. In his words, “My dad said it was to cover up the bad flavor.” I understand putting a lime or slice of orange with a good Hefeweizen to enhance the sour flavor. But putting a lime in your beer to cover up the bad flavor is like covering a burnt steak with ketchup.

So this brings us back to Corona. There are some of you out there that love Corona. It’s your favorite beer. If that is the case, then enjoy it. Each person has a different palate and therefore will like different beers. But please don’t hold up Corona as the crowned jewel of all Mexican beers. There are plenty of other Mexican beers out there to try that don’t need a lime to confuse your taste buds.

So my plea on this Cinco de Mayo is to broaden your beer horizons. Try something outside the Mexican beer ordinary (my recommendation would be Negra Modelo). Ditch the lime and make sure that Cinco de Mayo doesn’t leave a bad taste in your mouth.