April 16th - Delano Caipirinha

LOVE ME SOME CAIPIRINHA

So you may or may not be aware of last year's trend in cocktails, the caipirinha.  It is made with Cachaça (ka-SHA-sa) liquor which is from Brazil and manufactured from sugarcane.  It's similar to rum only a bit crisper. 

I remember seeing cachaça in our house as a kid back in the 80's. (My mom was raised in Sao Paolo.)    Of course, I wasn't yet the drinker I would come to be, so I wasn't too interested in it.   I do recall my parents making these on occasion because I wanted to muddle the lime with the sugar.  It looked like fun.  Did I get to do it?  No.  Man, why did I have to be born to good, responsible parents?

Well, fast forward 25 years and here I am making my own caipirinha in my own home.  Who knew this foreign alcohol from my childhood would become so trendy?  (When I told my mom about the trend last year, she was like "I was drinking those when I was 14".  Nice Mom.)  I haven't heard too much about them this year though.  Like the mojito, I think they're becoming less popular. 

Anyway, they make different flavors of cachaça now.  But, I stuck to the original.  There are several different brands to choose from too if you go to a larger liquor store.  I liked this one because I knew the bottle would fit in my bar.  It's good.

THE RECIPE

Lime: $0.69

Sugar: had

Cachaça: $23.99

Lemon juice: had

Ice: had

Total: $24.68

THE RESULTS

FAST:  You can have some cocktail bliss in less than 5 minutes. 

EASY:  Almost as easy as drinking the cachaça straight from the bottle.

FRESH:  Lime juice and booze.  What else could be fresher?

OVERALL:  The caipirinha is like a macho version of a mojito without the fresh mint to hide behind.  It's strong, in your face, and ready to punch ya if you get out of line.  You may or may not like these.  I like drinking straight gin (Brian calls it rubbing alcohol), so these are right up my alley.  If you're more of a fruity person, I'd go with the flavored cachaça.  The weather is warming up so this would be a great summer refresher!

My favorite, lavender, is back for the weekend dessert recipe.  See ya then!