The World Cup starts today and we are excited! Enjoy this Caipirinha recipe. In honor of Brazil, we are going to toast the opening of the game with Brazil’s National Drink, which happens to pair very nicely with Caribbean Rums if you are unable to find the traditional cachaco. #ThirstyThursday. Enjoy!

The Caipirinha recipe is made with a base of cachaça, a 500-year-old, sugar cane-derived spirit. Combine the popularity of the Martini and the Cosmopolitan, and you have Brazil’s national drink—the Caipirinha, or Cachaça Sour. The Portuguese word politely translates as “little man from the country,” or, less politely, as “yokel.” The Caipirinha is drunk from lunch until bedtime, which may come sooner than anticipated. It has been popular throughout Brazil for longer than anyone can remember, which is not a surprise, given the potency of the drink and the frequency with which it is drunk.

Cachaça is a spirit akin to rum in that it is made from unrefined sugar, but the similarity stops there. Cachaça is a sharper, tart liquor that is tamed into seduction when muddled with lime and sugar.

Brazil, being consistently more temperate—if not downright more sultry—than other parts of the world, offers the ideal climate for sipping a Caipirinha and watching the rest of the world go by. The first warm days of spring through the end of summer are best suited for this refreshing drink.

The Caipirinha is a down-to-earth, honest drink that requires no ostentation. A good old-fashioned glass is all you need. The Caipirinha will do the rest. Until recently, only two brands of cachaça were generally available outside of Brazil: Pitú and Toucano. While not as complex, Pitú has a brashness and joviality that is more common to the Caipirinha found on the streets of Rio. Stick with regular granulated sugar, which will properly muddle the lime.

Caipirinha recipe:

- 2 teaspoons lime cane sugar
- 4 Key limes, halved and seeded, or 2 small, juicy limes, quartered
- 2 ounces cachaça
- Sprinkle the sugar over the limes, and muddle them in the mixing glass part of a Boston shaker until the sugar is dissolved and the lime juice is released. Pour an old-fashioned glassful of cracked ice into the mixing glass, add the cachaça, and shake to incorporate. Return all the contents to the old-fashioned glass.

Variations:

- Caipirissima: Use rum in place of the cachaça.
- Caipirosca: Use vodka in place of the cachaça.
- Caipifruta – consists of cachaça, crushed fresh fruits, sugar, and crushed ice. The most popular fresh fruits used to create this drink are tangerine, kiwi, passion fruit, pineapple, lemon, grapes, mango, cajá, cashew fruit, and most recently açaí.

Source: Chow

Lime Cane Sugar – 15.87 oz.

This article was written by Captain Tim and the Crew of Caribbean Trading Company.

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