As Mexico with its Margarita and Cuba with its Mojito, Brazil also has a national drink: Caipirinha.

It is made with lime, sugar, crushed ice, and cachaça.

Just like rum, cachaça is made from sugar cane, but it has a stronger flavor and aroma. It is because its distillation process retains more impurities.

Caipirinha is perfect to accompany feijoada – a bean stew that is considered Brazil’s national dish,  churrasco – Brazilian barbeque- as well as being served on so many other occasions, especially on a hot day.

There are many variations of this drink as follows:

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.

Caipisake - sake is substituted for cachaça. It is commonly made with strawberries or kiwi.

Caipiroska or Caipivodka – made with vodka instead of cachaça.

Caipiríssima – prepared with rum instead of cachaça.

Caipirão – made using a liqueur from Portugal, Licor Beirão, instead of cachaça.

CaipirItaly - Campari is substituted for cachaça. It is a variation from Italy.

Caipinheger – variation made using Steinhager.

Because I do not drink, mine is made with crushed fruit(s), sugar substitute (granulated), crushed ice, and most important sparkling water. It is the light and virgin version of the drink.

Today wasn’t one of those hot days where I live, but I craved the remembrance of its refreshness. This way, it was the perfect fit to celebrate the most special of the events: Life…

Cheers!!!

Caipirinha

Segment: Brazilian cuisine

 

½ lime, cut into 4 wedges

2 teaspoons sugar (brown, refined or crystalized)

Crushed ice

3 tablespoons cachaça

Place lime and sugar into a small glass. Mash the two ingredients together using a pastle or a wooden spoon. Fill the glass with crushed ice and add the cachaça.

* A wide variety of fresh fruits can be used in place of lime. In the absence of cachaça, vodka can be used, making a caipiroska.

 

Tangiroska

(Tangerine Caipiroska)

Segment: Brazilian cuisine

1-1/2 tangerine, peeled or frozen tangerine pulp/juice

1/2 cup plain or sparkling water

1-2 tablespoon(s) sugar (brown, refined, or crystalized), honey or sugar substitute plus 1 teaspoon

2-3 leaves fresh mint*

Crushed ice

3 tablespoons vodka (for a virgin version, omit it)

 

In a blender, blend well 1 peeled tangerine or its frozen pulp/juice, water, and 1-2 tablespoons sugar/honey. Strain the juice!!  In a cup, mash 1/2 peeled tangerine, 1 teaspoon sugar, and the mint using a pestle or a wooden spoon. Add crushed ice and vodka. Pour the blended and strained tangerine juice. Stir.  Enjoy!

* Mint is my touch to this drink. The sparkling water makes the virgin version.

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Receitas em Português:

Caipirinha

 

½ limão, fatiado em quatro

2 colheres de chá de açúcar

Gelo picado

3 colheres de sopa de cachaça

Coloque as fatias de limão e o açúcar num copo pequeno. Machuque com o auxílio de uma colher de pau. Encha o copo com gelado picado e acrecente a cachaça.

 

Tangiroska

(Caipiroska com Tangerina)

1/2 xícara de chá de suco fresco de tangerina adoçado

1/2 tangerina descascada

1 colher de (chá) de açúcar

3 folhas de hortelã*

Gelo picado

3 colheres de sopa de vodka ou água com gás (versão virgem)

 

Coloque os gomos de tangerina, o açúcar e as folhas de hortelã num copo pequeno. Machuque com o auxílio de uma colher de pau. Acrescente o gelo picado, a vodka e o suco de tangerina. Mexa bem.

* A hortelã foi meu toque à receita tradicional.

Saúde!

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* Caipirinha with a sugar cane swizzle stick by David Catania is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

* Zutaten für einen Caipirinha by Christian “VisualBeo” Horvat is a file from the Wikimedia Commons.