We bet you already heard about Caipirinha, but do you know how to prepare a good caipirinha?

Check it out this post to know more about our national drink:

Caipirinha is a very traditional Brazilian drink prepared basically with limes, sugar, ice cubes and cachaça. Cachaça (we pronouce it like Ka-Shah-sah) is a Brazilian distilled liquor that starts from unaldulterated sugarcane juice but you will learn more about Cachaça next week, so keep following our posts 🙂

The real origins of Caipirinha are unknown, we know that around 1918 there was a very popular recipe made of limes, garlic and honey for patients with Spanish Flu (some people in Brazil still use this mixture as a remedy). Rum was added in order to expedite its the therapeutic effect until someday people decided to remove the garlic and honey and add some sugar and the ice came next, to ward off the heat. It was around 1922 that Caipirinha went global and Brazilians selected it to he official drink of Brazil in an international event called the Modern Art Week and it was in 2013 that Caipirinha was oficially registered as a product 100% inherently  Brazilian.

As you can see in the picture, nowadays new flavours of caipirinha were created. You can substitute limes for passion fruit, kiwi, strawberry, redfruits, starfruits and even mix different fruits. Some people even like to add some seasoning like peppers, ginger, cinnamon etc.

Ingredients:

3 limes

1/2 cup of sugar

1 1/2 quarts of ice

1 cup of cachaça

Directions

Cut the limes in half, and then cut each half into 8 pieces. Place 12 pieces of lime in each of 4 double old-fashioned glasses (or other 12-ounce glasses.) Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar into each glass. Using a muddler or the butt end of a large wooden spoon, mash the limes into the base of the glass. Try to dissolve the sugar as you do this, and stir occasionally. Fill each glass with 1 1/2 cups of ice and 1/4 cup of cachaca. Pour the contents of the glass into a shaker, and invert the glass into the shaker to act as a lid. Shake the glass and shaker to combine the sugar and cachaca for several seconds. Lift the glass from the shaker, and pour the contents back into the glass. Repeat the process with the remaining 3 glasses. (Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse, 2004)

If you cannot find Cachaça where you live you can substitute the cachaça for vodka and then he drink is called Caipiroska, also very popular here in Brazil.The official register of Caipirinhas says that they must be served in -10°C and the alcohol content must be between from 15% until 36%.

Here you can check some photos of different caipirinhas: