The Caiprinha

June 11, 9:33 PMKansas City Cocktails ExaminerAngie Rayfield

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Caiprinha or caipirinha - whichever spelling
you choose, it spells "delicious."

Did you know that June 12th is International Cachaca Day? June 12th, 1744, is the day that Portugal outlawed the production and selling of cachaca. Glad that didn't work out!

With a flavor similar to rum, cachaca mixes well in a variety of cocktails and batidas, but the most well-known is the caiprinha, hailed as Brazil's national cocktail. Although there are many fine cachacas available, the traditional caipirinha is made with un-aged cachaca, and generally, the cheaper, the better. There's an old saying in Brazil, "Quanto pior a cachaca, melhor a caipirinha." Roughly translated, the worse the cachaca, the better the caipirinha.

The key to a good caipirinha is actually in the lime. Forget the bottled juice or the lime juice cocktail, and definitely skip the limeade. A good caipirinha requires fresh lime, and the classic Brazilian cocktail is made with the lime that we here in Kansas City know as the key lime (limao galego). Key limes, with their pale green skin, have a lighter aroma, and a more acidic flavor that the dark green Tahitian limes commonly found in local grocery stores. Key limes are slightly more expensive, but the flavor makes them worth it.

The Classic Caipirinha Recipe

• 1-2 key limes cut into thin slices
• 2-3 heaping tablespoons of sugar
• 2-3 ounces cachaca

Muddle the sugar and lime slices together well in an old fashioned or rocks glass. Add the cachaca and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Add crushed ice and stir. Garnish with a lime pinwheel.

Experts will insist that the sugar must be white cane sugar, not brown sugar, beet sugar, or raw sugar. And as a bit of trivia, Brazilian sugar is a finer granule than what we find in our sugar bowls. The texture is similar to what is called superfine sugar, used in baking.

Muddling is much easier with the finer sugar, but if you don't want to buy "special" sugar, you can actually make your own. Place regular table sugar in a blender or food processor, and pulse several times, until the sugar reaches at the correct texture.