Recipe for caipirinha
A refreshing cocktail is the perfect choice for hot days. We give you the recipe for the authentic caipirinha and we tell you how to prepare it step by step.
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The caipirinha or caipiriña is a traditional cocktail from Brazil, probably the most well-known cocktail from this country, although its popularity crossed frontiers long ago and, today, we can find it practically all over the world.
According to historians, the caipirinha was created by the landowners of a region of São Paulo during the 19th century. In its early days, it was viewed as a local, good quality substitute for imported whisky and wines. The name of the drink is a mixture of “caipira, a term which refers to the rural inhabitants that lived in the forests, and “Curupirinha”, the diminutive name given to Curupira, a mystical demon that lived in the forests.
A caipirinha is prepared from a mixture of lemons, sugar, crushed ice, and the essential ingredient: the cachaça o cachaza, a local sugarcane-based firewater. There are many variations on the caipirinha. A well-known one is the caipiroska, in which the cachaça is substituted by vodka. If rum is used, then the drink is known as a caipirissima. There is also an alcohol-free version of the caipirinha in which the cachaça is removed, and this one is made with lemon or lime, orange, sugar, mint leaves, carbonated water and ice.
This is a very easy recipe to make at home.
Step by step recipe for caipirinha:
Ingredients:
- Cachaça
- 2 teaspoons of brown sugar
- 1 or 2 limes or, alternatively, lemons
- Crushed ice
Preparation:
1. Wash the lime or lemon and cut it into segments.
2. Place two or three lemon pieces in a wide glass or mortar and add the sugar.
3. Crush the lemons so that they release their juice and it mixes with the sugar.
4. Add the cachaça (between 30 ml and 50 ml per person, depending on the alcohol content) and add the ice.
5. Decorate with a slice of lemon and always serve with a straw.
The caipirinha should be drunk through a straw which reaches the base of the glass so that, as you drink, you can taste the cachaça mixed with the sugar and lime, otherwise you may just drink the cachaça and it may be too strong.
