Rum was born in tropical heat, and it remains the base spirit for many quintessential summer cocktails, but when most Americans think of rum, they are almost certainly not thinking of cachaça—the national spirit of Brazil. 

Cachaça? What’s that??

Brazil produces more than 1.4 billion liters of cachaça (pronounced “ka-SHA-suh”) annually, which makes it the most-consumed sugar cane spirit in the world. Americans simply don’t hear much about it, because Brazil exports only about 4 million liters (that’s one-quarter of 1 percent of its production—rude, I know), and Brazilians enjoy the rest all by themselves, to the tune of almost 6.5 liters per capita annually. 

Suffice to say that cachaça isn’t much like the rums that are household names to American consumers, most of which are made from molasses . Unaged cachaça is clear (or “water-white”) and made directly from fresh juice of sugar cane, with distinctive grassy and earthy notes. Like all other sugar cane distillates, cachaça is sometimes aged in wood barrels—made from one of the many unique varieties of trees in Brazil—which lend the spirit color and some equally unique flavors. 

There’s a lot to say about cachaça—so much that I have a separate post about it here. In this post I want to introduce you to the deliciousness of the post popular drink Brazilians make with it: the Caiprinha. You’re in for some treats.

Caipirinha 101: Cachaça + lime + sugar 

The Caipirinha (“kai-per-EEN-ya”) is an easy and rewarding drink to make. The traditional recipe is powdered sugar (or simple syrup) and a sliced-up half of a lime muddled together before adding 2-3 oz. of Cachaca, then shaking or stirring the mix with ice and serving it in a rocks glass. In some respects, it’s just a Brazilian riff on the classic Daiquiri—a bit more rustic because the Caipirinha incorporates actual slices of lime, not just the juice, and because of cachaça’s unique flavor profile. 

With millions of Brazilians and Brazilian bartenders mixing Caipirinhas, there are many schools of thought about the *best* way to make one. It can be simply mixed in a glass, or it can be mixed in a shaker, and then poured (ice and all) into a glass.

Some mixologists cut away much of the lime peel before slicing the fruit to muddle with the sugar—worth considering, as it reduces the bitterness lime peels bring to the drink. For sweetening, powdered white sugar is most authentic; “powdered” in this case means granulated sugar further pulverized in a mortar and pestle. However, some mixologists prefer to use coarse, relatively unrefined sugar such as Demerara or Turbinado, some of which remains undissolved and lends some gritty but sweet highlights to the drink. You’ll see in a couple of the linked videos that using simple syrup is acceptable, too. If you go that route, I’d recommend a rich simple (two parts sugar to one part water), based on either white or Demerara sugar.

Whichever way you sweeten the drink, don’t be shy about how much sugar you use, as the lime and cachaça really need a sweet lift. Trust me. So here’s the classic recipe:

TRADITIONAL CAIPIRINHA
½ Fresh lime (cut into six smaller pieces)
3 Barspooons powdered sugar (ground in a mortar and pestle if necessary)
2 oz Cachaça (from your freezer)

Directions: Muddle the lime pieces and sugar thoroughly in a Double Old Fashioned glass, until the lime and sugar are well integrated. Add the cachaça, stir briefly, then add ice and stir some more. Serve with a stirrer, but no straws.

Personally, I prefer the shaker method, and for my money, this guy has the best approach—including the part about smiling while you shake. But don’t sweat the details too much; as you’ll learn, Caipirinhas in their native habitat are not precisely engineered.

Caipirinha Grad School: Cachaça + lime + sugar + any fruit you love!

The traditional Caipirinha is only the beginning! Cachaça plays well with almost any kind of fruit, so now that you have the basic idea it’s time to get creative!

Instead of using half of a lime, reduce that to about a quarter of a lime and add in a compensating amount of another other favorite fruit. The lime is essential; without it, you’re not having a Caipirinha. Otherwise, the techniques are about the same and quite flexible. Here are some of my own favorites.

STRAWBERRY CAIPIRINHA
2 oz of Cachaça
¼ of a lime, in small slices
2-3 strawberries, halved (you want at least as much strawberry as lime)
1-2 tsp of Demerara sugar (or about an ounce of Demerara sugar syrup)
This version is as pretty as it is delicious!

PEACH CAIPIRINHA
2 to 2½ oz Cachaça from the freezer
⅓ Ripe peach, cubed ⅓ Lime, cubed
⅓-½ oz Rich simple syrup (2 parts sugar, 1 part water)

Muddle the peach, lime, and simple syrup in the base of a shaker. Add cachaça, fill shaker ½ full of ice, and shake for 20-30 seconds until cold and well integrated. Pour shaker contents (ice and all) into a double rocks or Old Fashioned glass.

DRAGON FRUIT CAIPIRINHA
⅓ to ½ lime, in wedges
⅓ to ½  Dragon fruit (red or white), sliced or cubed
1-2 tsp Demerara sugar or syrup
2 oz Cachaça 

PASSION FRUIT CAIPIRINHA
⅓ lime, in wedges
Juice and seeds of one passion fruit
1-2 tsp Demerara sugar or syrup
2 oz Cachaça 

PINEAPPLE MINT CAIPIRINHA
½ fresh lime (sliced thinly)
4 cubes of fresh pineapple 
2 fresh mint leaves
1-2 tsp powdered sugar or rich simple syrup
2 oz cachaça (from the freezer)