We use cookies and similar technologies to improve user experience, and analyse activities and performance. For more information, please see our Privacy Policy. 
Recipe Detail Page
Caipirinha
Spring 2003
The name of Brazil's most famous cocktail means “little peasant girl”, a reflection of the roots of its prime ingredient, cachaça (ka-SHASSa). A spirit distilled from sugar cane juice, cachaça was liberally doled out to slaves working on the Portuguese colonist's sugar plantations in the 1600s. Today, it is among the five most-consumed spirits in the world. Recipes for the Caipirinha vary from province to province in Brazil, sometimes calling for lemon, more often for lime, or occasionally substituting fresh passion fruit or a piece of ripe pineapple. Part of the fun of making one is the preliminary crushing of the fruit in the bottom of the glass with a wooden pestle or wooden spoon - just enough to release the juices without letting any bitterness from the lemon or lime rind escape.
1 lime or half a lemon, cut into quarters
2 tsp fine sugar
2 oz cachaça
Ice
1. Put the lime or lemon and the sugar into a tumbler or Old-Fashioned glass.
2. With a wooden pestle or spoon crush the fruit to release the juices. Add the cachaça and ice.
3. Pour everything into a cocktail shaker and shake well.
4. Return everything to the tumbler.
