CAIPIRINHA

The national cocktail of Brazil is the refreshingly tangy (and potent) caipirinha, made of cachaça, lime, sugar and good ol’ fashion elbow grease. Despite the fact that the name of the drink is derived from the diminutive of the wordcaipira, which can be translated as “hillbilly”, caipirinhasare enjoyed from the fine restaurants of São Paulo to the beach side snack bars of Recife. In fact, they are now enjoyed across the globe.

The key ingredient is cachaça, also known as pinga,caninha, or aguardente. It is a rum-like alcohol distilled directly from sugar cane juice. To make a caipirinha, grab a low-ball glass and the following:

2 oz. of cachaça2 tsp. of sugar
1 lime (quartered)
1 handful of crushed ice

To make, toss the lime wedges and sugar into the low-ball glass and muddle (mash together, mixing the sugar with lime juice… if you don’t have a muddler, you can use a spoon). Next fill the glass with crushed ice. Then pour in the cachaça. Give it a quick stir and you are ready to go!