Caipirinhas

[chop-chop]

Caipirinhas... made with Cachaca (the last "c" has a cedilla). Cachaca is distilled from sugar cane juices. It is the Brasilian national drink... very tasty!

The standard Caipirinha is made with lime, sugar, and Cachaca.

In an 8 oz glass:
1/2 lime - cubed
3 to 4 tsp. of sugar (to taste)
Mash the lime and sugar.
Add ice cubes or crushed ice.
Add 2 or 3 shots of Cachaca

Variations are made with various fresh fruits. My favorite is Caju Amiga... made with Caju fruit. (The"seeds" of the Caju fruit are dry-roasted or sun-dried, and salted. We know them as cashews. )

They are best enjoyed with a Brasilian woman by your side! Lucky me!!

chop-chop

 

[SofaKing]

Caipirinhas... made with Cachaca (the last "c" has a cedilla). Cachaca is distilled from sugar cane juices. It is the Brasilian national drink... very tasty! chop-chop

Oh my, drink one and you want another. I have drunk these on the beach at Montanita in Ecuador with an Ecuatoriana at my side . Where is my hammock, suddenly I don't want to be at work anymore.

 

[TromboneGuy]

I was in a salsa band and our pianist was from Brazil - taught all of us how to make those. It was difficult to pay attention, to say the least.

 

[grb]

Oh boy, I got into these in a bar (in of all places Berlin) one night. They are just like drinking fresh limeade. All of a sudden you get hit with a pallet of bricks. The bar we were in was using Pitu liquor. Made from sugarcane I think. Very tasty and potent.

 

[chop-chop]

The juice from Sugar Cane is also very tasty. It's sweet... but, it's an organic kind of sweet taste... not syrupy-sweet at all... and, very watery. Once it's distilled, and processed, it it quite potent. I preferred my Cachaca on the sweet side. When it was aged in oak barrels, rather than in tanks, it had a rather harsh taste. I don't mind a little "burn" on the way down, as long as the after-taste is pleasant. I also tried one that used tangerine in the "mix", and that was really nasty. A favorite "add" was Canela... or, cinnamon. That was tasty, too!

Getting back to potency, 3 shots of liquor is a LOT! Don't let the taste of the fruit fool you. One Caipirinha... you're fine. Two... you'll feel it! Three... you're walkin' on the wild side!! More than that is just plain stoooooopid!

Oh, yeah... loved that hammock!

chop-chop

 

[RichGem]

I just discovered these on a recent trip to NYC... man are they refreshing, but boy do they hit you like a ton of bricks if you're not careful! Anyhow, I've just gotten a hold of all the fixins and am sipping one now. I do vary it just a bit tho with less sugar and a splash of soda water. Anyhow, very yummy in this hot weather.

 

[rmrdaddy]

LOVE them!
Spent 6 days in the D.R. a few years ago......
Drank TOOOOO many of them!

 

[analog_kid]

I was just going to post a thread about Cachaca. Anyone have a favorite? I was thinking about picking up a bottle of Agua Luca or Beleza Pura. Still pretty non existent in my neck of the woods so I have to order. Anyone have any experience?

 

[RichGem]

I was just going to post a thread about Cachaca. Anyone have a favorite? I was thinking about picking up a bottle of Agua Luca or Beleza Pura. Still pretty non existent in my neck of the woods so I have to order. Anyone have any experience?

Beleza Pura is what I have here, but I can't compare it to anything since it's the only cachaca that I've tried (except for the who knows what kind I had in NY). I can tell you it's got a bit of a burn to it if you drink it straight (not recommended).

 

[homebrewer]

I do love the Caipirinhas, but until the crappy state run liquor stores in VA get a better cachaca, I think I'll be sticking to Mojitos (which aren't that far off...)

Seriously, I swear that the little bit of aftershave I get on my lips tastes better than the cachaca we get around here.

Now if only someone would figure out a way to distill a spirit that tastes like my bay rum aftershave.... they'd have a customer for life!

 

[TstebinsB]

Like most things, the best ones are made in the home country. There are many combinations in Brazil. And amen to the Brazilian woman by your side! I'll leave further comments for another thread..

 

[MarSellus Wallace]

Hmmmmm, and a mojito or margarita. My wife makes them for me.

 

[RichGem]

caipirinhas, mojitos, margaritas.... amazing how versatile a lime and some booze can be.

 

[RichGem]

I do love the Caipirinhas, but until the crappy state run liquor stores in VA get a better cachaca, I think I'll be sticking to Mojitos (which aren't that far off...)

Seriously, I swear that the little bit of aftershave I get on my lips tastes better than the cachaca we get around here.

Now if only someone would figure out a way to distill a spirit that tastes like my bay rum aftershave.... they'd have a customer for life!

How different would it be to use a good (unflavored) rum in the meanwhile? Without the mint, it shouldn't be too mojito-like, right?

 

[Beast]

Mmm.. I love these. To me, it's like a Mojito on steroids.

 

[RichGem]

Hmmmmm, and a mojito or margarita. My wife makes them for me.

Hey MarSellus... What's love got to do with it?

(great avatar)

 

[quattro]

boy oh boy, i love caipirinhas! i got drunk from drinking too much of it when i was in rio de janeiro october last year.

 

[RichGem]

Chop-chop et al....

A little pronunciation help pls:

the drink's last sylable: "ha" or "ya"

and the booze: ca-cha-sa or ca-sha-sa

?

thx!

 

[thunderball]

Drink these here in Japan at a 'British' pub called The Hub...tasty tasty*

*and hence very dangerous!

 

[gilrain]

I mix these fairly regularly. To answer the pronunciation questions: caipirinha ends with a "yuh" sound. Cachaca is either ca-sha-sa or ca-cha-sa, but the first variation is probably more accurate.

Anyway, it's a great drink, and fairly easy to mix. You need a muddler, of course, but after that you're golden.