Caipirinha
Caipirinha – LADL Flowchart Recipe
Origin: Brazil
About: The caipirinha (Kai-Pee-Reen-Ya) is Brazil’s national cocktail. Caipirinha is said to mean “little country girl” in Portuguese. The origins for the name most likely come from Portuguese’s common feminine nouns and stereotype that Caipirinha is a poor man’s drink, in other words, someone from the countryside. Don’t let this discourage you from trying this drink! This is my absolute favorite cocktail and goes well with almost any meal, especially feijoada.
At it’s based is Cachaça, pronounced Ka-sha-sa, which is sugar cane spirit like rum. However, Cachaça is distilled sugar cane juice and rum is distilled molasses. Part of it’s popularity outside of Brazil developed in 2012 when United States decided to recognize the centuries-old South American distillate Cachaça as a distinctive liquor, instead of being forced to label their bottles “Brazilian rum”. It’s strange that it took the US so long, because Brazil produces around 1.5 billion liters of Cachaça a year, making it the fourth-most-produced distilled liquor in the world.
Like rum, Cachaça can be aged, blended, and encased in wood barrels. Darker colored Cachaça aged in wooden barrels may have mellow flavors, such as cinnamon, vanilla, and dried fruits.
Don’t forget, you need a good muddler!
Variations:
- Strawberries, 3-4, add before muddling
- Mint leaves, 2 leaves, & pineapple, 5 cubes to replace the limes.
- Replace limes with passion fruit.
Simonson, Robert. “Cachaça: Beyond a One-Note Samba”. New York Times, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/dining/cachaca-and-caipirinha-from-the-drink-lexicon-of-brazil.html?_r=0
