Caipirinhas!

[Huw]

Hi all,

I have recently discovered caipirinhas. For those who don't know, this is a fantastic mixture of lime and cane spirit (caçacha). No, it's nothing like a mojito.

For those who do know, I have some questions:

1) What sort of alcohol do you use? I'm in the UK, and I can only find two brands of caçacha - Sagatiba and Optimum. How do these brands compare with others, and are there any other spirits which work?

2) What sort of sugar? I'm using brown sugar, but I've seen other sources use muscovada or caster sugar.

3) Any spices? I've tried cinnamon.

4) Anything else.

Thanks in avance!

 

[Pyrex]

1) You can also use Rum instead (which yields a daiquiri), which will taste very similar (use a golden colored light rum. Not spiced, not fruity, and not clear).

2) If you're mixing in a shaker, you can use either powdered sugar or superfine sugar (which you can make by grinding regular sugar in a food processor). If you plan to make more than one or two now and then it's probably worth the effort to make simple syrup as it'll mix easier. I wouldn't use brown sugar, it would probably taste too molasses-y. If you were going to make simple syrup beforehand raw (turbinado) sugar might work well (it would need to be a syrup though, it won't dissolve well in a shaker).

 

[DarkKestral]

Hi all,

I have recently discovered caipirinhas. For those who don't know, this is a fantastic mixture of lime and cane spirit (caçacha). No, it's nothing like a mojito.

For those who do know, I have some questions:

1) What sort of alcohol do you use? I'm in the UK, and I can only find two brands of caçacha - Sagatiba and Optimum. How do these brands compare with others, and are there any other spirits which work?

2) What sort of sugar? I'm using brown sugar, but I've seen other sources use muscovada or caster sugar.

3) Any spices? I've tried cinnamon.

4) Anything else.

Thanks in avance!

You mean quite similar to a mojito.. they're both basically made from spirits distilled from fermented sugarcane (the treatment is somewhat different), lime juice, and sugar. Mojitos are a little lighter on the tongue, being made with carbonated water and mint, in addition to the other ingredients, while cachaca is a little more "fiery" on the throat, and the reduced volume of liquid means caipirinhas are a little stronger...

That said, muscovada sugar is apparently traditional for the caipirinha, (don't ask me where to get it though, I have no clue,) though if you can't get it, I'd go with Pyrex's suggestion of turbinado sugar syrup (Make a big batch. Sugar syrup can be darn useful, and is a great bar ingredient to make at home). and I've only had a few different caipirinhas, all made with standard ingredients, so I can't really recommend any things to add. However, I'd say from my experiences of the taste that almost any mixer that goes well with a mojito is likely to go well with a caipirinha. Tropical fruit juices and crushed fruit, are quite popular, and you don't even have to go very far to find the fruit; several common ones include pineapple, mango, kiwi and various non-lime citrus fruits. Cinnamon does appear to show up a lot in cachaca drinks, so I'm not surprised it went OK...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

And just for the record, the caphirinas served at the local Brazilian churrascarias of D/FW expand the traditional lime flavored drinks to include other flavors as well- I've had pineapple myself, and I've seen strawberry ones as well.

I'm not sure if its authentic, but they're all tasty- and strong!

 

[Piratecat]

I love caipirinhas! The world's largest rodent is so cool that... no, wait. That's a capybara.

Never mind.

 

[Huw]

Thanks for the ideas. For the record, I tried making one with paprika. It didn't quite work. Next experiment will be with curaçao, to get a sort of margarita. I'll let you know it goes.

 

[DarkKestral]

Thanks for the ideas. For the record, I tried making one with paprika. It didn't quite work. Next experiment will be with curaçao, to get a sort of margarita. I'll let you know it goes.

Curaçao should be pretty good; being orange-flavored, it should blend pretty well.

 

[Huw]

Curaçao should be pretty good; being orange-flavored, it should blend pretty well.

Regretfully, it didn't work. The curaçao was too strong, and I wasted two good shots making something that tasted like a badly mixed daquiri

So far, muscovada and cinnamon has been the best variation.

 

[Dark Hermit]

Hi all,

I have recently discovered caipirinhas. For those who don't know, this is a fantastic mixture of lime and cane spirit (caçacha). No, it's nothing like a mojito.

For those who do know, I have some questions:

1) What sort of alcohol do you use? I'm in the UK, and I can only find two brands of caçacha - Sagatiba and Optimum. How do these brands compare with others, and are there any other spirits which work?

2) What sort of sugar? I'm using brown sugar, but I've seen other sources use muscovada or caster sugar.

3) Any spices? I've tried cinnamon.

4) Anything else.

Thanks in avance!

Hello there.

I'll see if I can help...

1) First, it's not "caçacha", it's "cachaça". Just a minor correction.
Now, on the alcohol... Sagatiba is a good cachaça. I like it. Optimum I have never heard of, so it's either exportation-type thing or not made in Brazil, and in this last case, I wouldn't recommend it. The best cachaças are the ones made by small-scale producers, rather than industrial-scale stuff, but I don't think you'll have any luck finding it in the UK. Maybe if you try stores specialized in imported booze. The best cachaça I've ever had was one that didn't even have a brand - it was more like a homemade brew, produced by a small producer in Paraty, a small city near Rio de Janeiro. But Sagatiba isn't all bad - at least I find it a lot better than most big brands around here.
You could also put vodka in your caipirinha rather than cachaça. It's somekind of a modern variation from the original caipirinha. We also call it "caipiroska", but it's more of a slang than a real name. If you have some really good vodka there, you should try it. It's the same thing, but with vodka instead of cachaça. Tastes good.
I have seen other variations, but none I would really recommend.
Oh, and about the fruit variation, the original caipirinha is with lime, but yeah, tehre are many variations using maracujá, pineaple and other fruit. Try it with strawberries.

2) The original caipirinha uses refined cane sugar, the white one. It's actually the common sugar in Brazil, the other types are sort of rare. If you can't find it, I think brown sugar and muscovada can do it.

3) Cinnamon, good one. That "best cachaça I've had" I mentioned in item 1 was cinnamon-flavoured. Other than that, I don't have any recommendations. But I would prefer it with no spice.
Since you're in the UK, you could try using some of those plants you use for making tea. You've got great ones there. You could just mix it with the lime and then add the cachaça. If you pick the right tea, it will taste delicious. Just if you put more tea than lime, it's not caipirinha anymore (but who cares, as long as it's a good drink).

4) I don't like it, but many people do - you could make a caipirinha using "sake", that Japanese booze made of rice. Some people love it, but I would rather go for the original caipirinha instead.


I hope I gave you some ideas.
Have a nice drink.

Bye.

 

[Ukyo the undead]

What Dark Hermit said.

I would just add that caipirinha in Brazil is really rivalized by the variation using vodka (caipiroska).
...and that any fruit with strong flavor can be used to make a cachaça(or vodka)-based drink...

...but putting spices in the caipirinha may work. However, I ´ve never seen a drink using it and keeping being called caipirinha.