A wow cocktail party with cool art and a casual Caipirinha

July 30, 8:24 PMLA Cocktails ExaminerAaron Vanek

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Artist Jen Albright with her caipirinha and two printed illustrations 

Still intrigued by the Caipirinha (kay-peer-REEN-ya), Brazil’s National Cocktail that I had at the Canal Club in Venice, I featured it at a recent cocktail party.

This drink only uses three ingredients (four with ice), but it’s enough to channel an exotic, mysterious flavor. The base alcohol is cachaça (ka-SHAH-sa), which most well-stocked liquor stores carry. I purchased a bottle of Ypióca Crystal (aged one year) from the Wine House on the west side for $14 (plus tax). Ypióca has been family owned and operated since 1846, and they are the only large Brazilian supplier whose cachaça is completely distilled from the cane sugar grown on their estates. “Brazilian rum” is listed on the bottle, but, like Brazilian waxing, that means it’s pretty bare—in this case, no molasses added.

It has a light, slightly acidic scent to it; not something I recommend drinking straight.

But mixed as follows, it fits like the perfect Tetris block.

Caipirinha: ½ lime sliced into quarters, 2 tablespoons superfine or baker’s sugar, 2 oz. cachaça, crushed ice

Fill the glass with crushed ice (not ice cubes, if you can help it), and pour the cachaça over it. Add a straw and serve.

For variation, try using lemon instead of lime, or, for a Fruit Batida (bah-chee-da), pour 1 oz. cachaça and 1 oz. fruit juice into a glass, add 2 tablespoons superfine sugar and crushed ice, stir. 

Besides flashy drinks, here's how to effortlessly spruce up your cocktail party: get your friends to add the decoration.

I’m sure you know an artist of some kind (besides yourself): an illustrator, sculptor, writer, painter, DJ, poet. Have them bring a few pieces of their most portable work over and set up at your place, preferably in a safe but conspicuous spot. If your guests are shy or too familiar with each other, having someone exhibit their work is a fine excuse for conversation, preferably with a drink in hand.

For my get-together, I asked friend Jen to bring some of her illustrations, pictured in the slideshow.

In this economy, teamwork helps, especially when throwing a party.

For more info: Jen's artwork, Andrew's Cheese Shop in Santa Monica provided us with tasty comestibles 

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