Caipirinha (Cachaça, Lime and Sugar)
Lime and sugar worked together with cachaça over ice. Brazil's national cocktail, three ingredients, and the whole technique is in how you treat the lime.
Servings: 1
Calories: 129kcal
Ingredients
- 6 ice cubes
- 1 tablespoon sugar white sugar; it needs the grain to help crush the lime
- 1 ounce cachaça a full caipirinha usually carries about two ounces
- ½ ounce lime juice
- 6 slices lime the peel goes in too, which is where the aroma comes from
Instructions
- Cut the ends off the limes with a sharp knife and let them stand for about 30 minutes.
- Put the six lime slices in the glass and turn the glass a few times so the inside picks up the oils, then take the slices out and set them aside.
- Fill a shaker halfway with ice.
- Add the sugar and shake hard.
- Add the cachaça and shake again.
- Add the lime juice and shake.
- Now the other trick of a caipirinha: put the lime peels into the shaker and do not overdo it, because the white pith turns it bitter.
- Open the shaker and serve straight away, with the crushed ice and the lime slices in the glass.
Notes
The lime is the whole drink. The juice gives acidity and the peel gives the aroma, which is why the slices are pressed against the glass and the peels go into the shaker. What you must not do is grind the white pith, which is bitter and cannot be taken back out. A caipirinha is more commonly made by muddling lime and sugar directly in the glass and pouring the cachaça over, which is simpler than this shaker method and gives much the same result. One ounce of cachaça is modest: most versions use closer to two.
Nutrition
Calories: 129kcal | Carbohydrates: 18g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 6mg | Potassium: 63mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 24IU | Vitamin C: 20mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 1mg