Feeling like a beach vacation? I know I am, but alas, that is a ways off. So, maybe instead a quick weekend escape in a bottle? Ok, ok, not literally a weekend in a bottle, but a delicious drink from the beaches of Brazil is the Caipirinha and I find them mighty tasty on a hot summer day. My husband introduced me to this delightfully lime-y, kick-you-in-the-pants drink after his trip to Recife, Brazil.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lime cut into small pieces (can use a whole lime if small or you want it extra lime-y)
- 1-2 teaspoons sugar (or whatever suits your palate--Brazilians use closer to a tablespoon)
- 2 ounces Cachaça (common brands we find are Pitu and 51 - in a side-by-side taste test we found we preferred 51)
- 1 - 4" sugar cane stick - optional (it's a fun effect if available, but otherwise a stirrer stick will do)
Add the lime pieces and sugar to a rock glass. With a muddler, mash the lime and sugar together, then pour in the cachaça and stir. Fill rest of glass with ice, add sugar cane stick or stirrer (you'll want to stir the drink as the ice melts). Serves 1.
Now, drink slooowwwwly if at all possible to let that ice melt into the drink and imagine you are sitting on a hot Brazilian beach with the sparkling sea just within reach...
*A note about sugar: the Brazilian version my husband drank had dark raw sugar chunks and a lot more than 2 teaspoons of it, which meant you wanted to stir it often as the sugar started to dissolve. I prefer my sugar to more fully dissolve so we use superfine sugar. You could also substitute Splenda or 1/2 Splenda if you're cutting calories. The cachaça does not seem to mind.
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