Caipirinha
Updated February 23, 2016 
Cookbook
Kwanzaa: An African American Celebration Of Culture And Cooking
Published by Harper Perenniel
Margarita fans will line up at the blender for seconds of these lime-infused libations. But bartender beware—they are as potent as they are tasty. The main ingredient is cachaça, a type of Brazilian rum that can be found in Portuguese/Brazilian neighborhoods in urban areas like Miami and Newark. Cachaça comes in two varieties, silver and gold (which are interchangeable in this concoction), and tastes like a cross between rum and eau-de-vie.
“Caipirinha literally means the ’little hillbilly.’ The people who drink cachaça, the liquor in the drink, are considered hillbillies: rough uncultured people,” says Isabella Bravim. “Cachaca is very strong. Like tequila, it burns you on the way down. Caipirinha, with its sugar and crushed ice, is a softer, but still potent, drink.”
Serves8
CostModerate
Total Timeunder 15 minutes
OccasionCocktail Party
Recipe Coursebeverage
Five Ingredients or LessYes
Mealdinner
Moodfestive
Taste and Texturefrothy, fruity, tangy, tart
Type of Dishalcoholic beverage
Ingredients
- 8 limes
- 2 cups cachaça, light rum, or vodka
- 1 cup superfine sugar
- Crushed ice
Instructions
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Roll the limes on a work surface, pressing hard to bruise them slightly so they release more juice. Halve and squeeze 6 of the limes; you should have about ¾ cup juice. Halve the remaining 2 limes.
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In a blender, combine the lime halves, lime juice, cachaça, and sugar. Blend until the lime halves are pureed, about 1 minute.
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Pour the mixture into glasses filled with crushed ice, and serve immediately.
1991 Eric V. Copage
