These days, especially during a heat wave like the one sweeping through Southern California, I swear by the suero.

If you go to a hospital in Mexico and get a suero, you can expect to be hooked up to an IV of hydrating fluids. If you order a suero at a restaurant or bar, you’ll get something very different: a delicious, refreshing nonalcoholic cocktail consisting of lime juice and sparkling water (and sometimes a pinch of salt) in a glass filled with ice, with a rim that is “escarchado,” which literally translates to “frosted” but refers to a salt-rimmed glass.

The suero is a popular hangover cure in Mexico, but for me, it’s a hangover prevention, and it’s become my cocktail of choice.

“It’s a water margarita!” I explained to my friends who looked at mine, curious, when we gathered from

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