Caipirinha

Caipirinhas, the national cocktail of Brazil, were once virtually unknown outside the nation. However, the drink has become more popular and widely available in recent years, in large part due to the exportation of first rate brands of cachaça.

• serves

  1

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 1 lime, cut into 8
• 30 ml sugar syrup*
• 60 ml cachaça (Brazilian sugarcane spirit)
• crushed ice

Instructions

Place the lime pieces into the bottom of the glass.  

Add 30 ml of sugar syrup (or, if you don’t have any handy, you can use 2 teaspoons of raw, palm, caster, granulated or any other type of sugar you desire).

Muddle limes and sugar syrup. Add the cachaça and a small amount of crushed ice. Stir until ingredients are combined.

Add your straws and "cap" the drink with ice so it forms a small dome of crushed ice. This thing is bloody delicious.

*Sugar syrup: Cook 2 parts sugar to one part water until reduced and dissolved. It should run freely yet still be quite gluggy. Mmmm, tasty! It’s good for consistency.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.