Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail and is made with cachaça, lime and sugar. Try one, you will understand why it is so appreciated. The liqueur used, cachaça, is a distillate of sugar cane that gives the cocktail a fresh and rustic flavor that differentiates it from daiquiri, a very similar drink, but based on rum. The basic recipe lends itself to many variations to create a surprising number of delicious mixes.
Ingrediants
Traditional recipe
- 2-4 lime wedges (to taste)
- 1-2 teaspoons of sugar (to taste)
- 200 g of crushed or cubed ice
- 45-75 ml of cachaça (to taste)
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Traditional Recipe
Step 1. Slice the lime
First cut it in half and then into quarters. For a glass, use as many slices as you can get from a wedge, usually three or four. The typical Brazilian recipe calls for using a greater quantity of this citrus fruit, even up to half a lime, if it is a small fruit. In any case, adjust the dose of this ingredient according to your tastes.
Step 2. In a glass, pour the sugar and add the lime
The ideal would be a lowball glass, also known as old fashioned. If you love sweet drinks, use two teaspoons of sugar, only one if you prefer the flavor of cachaça to dominate.
- American bartenders prefer to use raw sugar.
- In Brazil, in general, one opts for the refined white one.
- You can replace the sugar with 30 or 60 ml of simple syrup (consisting of water and sugar in equal parts).
Step 3. Crush the sugar and lime
Use a muddler (a cocktail pestle that looks like a small baseball bat) and press the ingredients with a twisting motion. Crush the lime just enough to release the juice because if you overdo it, the drink will taste bitter.
If you don't have a muddler, you can use the convex side of a spoon
Step 4. Add ice
It would be better to use minced one, but cubes are fine too.
Step 5. Add the liqueur and mix
The bartender associations recommend using about 60 ml (just over a shot) to obtain a sweeter and more tart cocktail; if you prefer a stronger drink, you can go up to 75ml (almost two shots). The original recipe, which usually involves more lime and less alcohol, says 50ml of cachaça.
Step 6. Serve the drink with lime wedges
Cheers!
Part 2 of 2: Variants
Step 1. Try a different liqueur
True caipirinha is always made with cachaça but, in Brazil, you can find a wide variety of recipes that involve different spirits. If you don't have cachaça on hand, then try one of the following suggestions:
- Replace it with vodka to create caipiroska. This drink goes perfectly with the pulp of many fruits.
- Use the rum and you will get the caipirissima. Rum is also a distillate of sugar cane, just like cachaça (even if you use molasses and not juice); however, even though the products are similar, the rum has a less earthy flavor. Because of this simpler flavor profile, it lends itself much better than cachaça to being mixed with fruit.
- Swap the cachaça for sake to make caipisake. In this case it is better to stick to the traditional recipe, because sake loses a lot of its particular aroma when mixed with fruit.
Step 2. Use different fruit instead of lime or incorporate it into the preparation
Virtually almost any fruit goes perfectly with this drink. Choose what you prefer or fruit in season; Here you will find a list of the most common options and some advice for preparation:
- Mandarin: Use half a mandarin instead of lime to make caipirinha de tangerina.
- Strawberry: in this case, incorporate 4-5 strawberries cut into quarters instead of the lime.
- Passion fruit: use it instead of lime. Take a small fruit or half of a large one, cut it in half and scrape the pulp by dropping it into the glass.
- Pomegranate: Add 4 teaspoons of arils to the caipirinha made with two lime wedges. Mash the pomegranate seeds with the sugar and lime.
- Watermelon: Blend a cup of watermelon pulp (without seeds) until pureed and add it to the classic caipirinha made with cachaça.
- Grapes: Mash 7 seedless berries with two lime slices and sugar.
- Kiwi: Make a caipirinha with half a lime and add a peeled and chopped kiwi. Mash the fruit with the sugar.
- Pineapple: Add two tablespoons of mashed pulp to the traditional caipirinha.
- Raspberries: Mash 6 raspberries with the lime and sugar.
- Chinese Mandarin: Mash 5 Chinese mandarins with lime and sugar.
- Guava: This fruit allows you to make the famous caipirinha de goiaba. Mix 100ml guava juice with two teaspoons of condensed milk, then add the cachaça and ice. Do not use any other sugar, condensed milk and fruit give all the sweetness you need.
Step 3. Use alternative sweeteners
In American bars, raw sugar is generally used, while refined white sugar is preferred in Brazil. However, you can use many other sweetening products that only slightly alter the flavor of the final product.
- Honey: use 30ml instead of sugar.
- Maple juice: 7 ml is enough.
- Agave: pour a teaspoon to replace the sugar.
Step 4. Try flavored cachaça
When you want to experiment with fruit caipirinha, you can unleash all the flavor of the ingredients by using flavored cachaça. Just infuse the fruit in the liqueur, inside a glass container that is not the original alcoholic bottle. Seal the container well and store it in a dark place for 24-72 hours; after this time you can filter the liquid and put it back in the original bottle. Here are some ideas to start from:
- Pineapple Cachaça: Peel and slice a whole pineapple and dip it in a quart of cachaça.
- Raspberry: Use about 350g of raspberries for a bottle of liqueur.
- Strawberry: For each bottle of cachaça take 300 g of strawberries.
- Chilli: Infuse three serrano peppers and one large Anaheim variety in one quart of cachaça. This flavored liqueur is great for making a caipirinha with cucumber slices pounded with sugar and lime.
