by Cornelius Brody Jr.

Created on: September 19, 2009

The Brazilian Caipirinha is an exceptional drink. There's nothing like having a deliciously cool lime Caipirinha by the beach on a hot summer's evening, just enjoying the sunset. Caipirinhas are great to enjoy both in parties and intimate encounters.

The base ingredient in Caipirinhas is Cachaa, a liquor made from fermented sugarcane. The most popular cachaa brand out there is 51, and it's pretty awesome, so I recommend you use that one. Traditional Caipirinhas also require limes, brown sugar and crushed ice. This drink can be served in highball glasses, but ideally you should use a rocks glass. A word of caution to those who are not used to Caipirinhas: they are extremely strong (they usually take a 10 count of liquor), and as the drink itself is made with a lot of sugar, alcohol gets to the brain surprisingly fast.

Here is how to prepare a Caipirinha:

Cut one lime into eights;

Muddle the lime and add 1.5 tablespoons of brown sugar to it;

Fill up half a glass (highball or rocks, whichever you prefer) with crushed ice;

Add up the lime/sugar mixture to the crushed ice in the glass;

Fill up the remainder of the glass with cachaa;

Now, put all of this in a shaker, and shake it up real well;

Pour it back on the glass, add two straws (or two halves of a straw for a rocks glass) and garnish with a lime;

Enjoy your drink!

There are a lot of variations you can make. For example, you can use kiwi, tangerine or passion fruit instead of limes, and each of these will give you a uniquely different taste. You can also use white sugar instead of brown sugar (I prefer it with white sugar), and you can even change the liquor, as cachaa is relatively hard to get.

You could use vodka and you would get a caipiroska though if you do use vodka, add of sprite or 7up;

You could use rum and you would get a caipirissima tastes awfully like a mojito, except with no mint.

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