A Caipirinha is a Brazilian cocktail made from Cachaça, limes, sugar, and ice. Caipirinhas practically must be made one glass at a time because their contents are so irregular, a pitcher is difficult to divide evenly. A lime is cut into pieces; some people partially peel them. Adding 1-2 teaspoons of white cane sugar, the lime pieces are squashed with a pestle to release the juice of the lime. Special wooden pestles can be found for this task.

Finally, one adds 20-50ml of white Cachaça and crushed ice. It should be shaken because it is very difficult to stir well enough. The drink is served in low wide glasses with (usually two) short drinking straws. In Brazil, it is served in most restaurants and at the beach. Native Brazilians usually prefer whole ice cubes to crushed ice.

Since it is now very popular all over the world, several variants of this cocktail are known. In some regions, brown sugar is used instead of white. In Brazil itself, they can be found with artificial sweetener for the sugar-conscious, or with a whole variety of fruits. Furthermore, Cachaça is sometimes replaced by vodka (Caipiroska, Caipirovka) or white rum (Caipirissima). Sake caipirinhas are also made.

Caipirinha is actually one of the flavors of what Brazilians call "batidas", which are cachaça fruit cocktails, therefore, one can substitute lime for other fruit and get very tasty drinks. Also popular are strawberry, passionfruit and coconut batidas.

External links

• A short photo essay on the making of a caipirinha