Transcript: Caipirhina

Cocktails on the fly
Episode “Caipirhina”

Alberta Strauss: Let’s get ready to rumble. Goal, Brazil. Ok flighty is going to take you south of the border today, way, way down south, to south America. And we are going to make a Caipirhina. This is a fantastic drink; it has got to be made with Cashasha though. I don’t want any Caipiraroska, that’s not a Caipirhina; we all know that it is made with vodka. But this drink is a special drink, and Cashasha is a special spirit. And it has got to be made with Cashasha. I have a great Cashasha here, it is called Toucano.
You may be asking what the heck is Cashasha? Cashasha is a sugar spirit made from the first crush of the sugar cane. Instead of molasses, that rum is made from. So it is typically higher in proof and they age it in the same kind of barrels that they age tequila in. So a lot of times if you have a nice Cashasha it smell a little bit like tequila. It has got a little bit of that fire, a little bit of that pepper.
But there is a bunch of different kinds of cashasha that comes from everything like cans, which interestingly enough my friend brought me back these cans that was a six pack. And it is not a six pack of Caipirhina; it is a six pack of Cashasha. And it is so great; you know where we have riboflavin, niacin. It has got the radioactivity level on there. Maybe we should have that too, I don’t know.
But anyway this is a great drink. I love Brazilian music, Agua De Bebear. This is the Agua De Bebear of Brazil I would say. So anyway, I have got a nice and what I thought is a very authentic way of making the Caipirhina. It was that I used to make it for many, many years in my bar. And one day this guy came in. He was very charming and very handsome. As Brazilian guys can be, and he said oh do you want to learn how to make an authentic Caipirhina. I will teach you duh, duh, da, da. And he is charming me and talking to me and playing his music on his guitar. And of course flighty drinking it in, gives him about five cocktails for free. He showed me; alright it is all in how you slice the lime.
You got to slice these striations like this out of the lime. And then carefully slice in half, and you want to remove the pith from the inside, because the pith gives you a bitter flavor. So taking the pith out cutting it out there, some more pith let’s get that out. Ok, ad this is a nice and juicy lime so this is going to work well. So you cut it in a couple more pieces like so. Ok, great and then you throw it into your mixing glass. There we go.
And then some raw sugar, a couple of scoops of raw sugar, now I just put in, I am going to put in about two tablespoons of raw sugar. But apparently he told me there is supposed to be so much sugar that the sugar crystallizes on your eyelashes. Now that’s not how flighty is going to make it. But she is still going to follow his directive. So anyway muddle, get your muddler here, I am going to sing a song when I am muddling. Agua de Bebear, give the flower water to drink. Ok I am not going to do that anymore.
But anyway I am muddling, got to muddle a lot. And even though that was a juicy lime I am going to add a little bit more. But it’s very important to crush everything all together because you want the peel. The peel adds a little bitterness and a little flavor. And add a little bit more fresh lime juice. Ok and then I am going to put in some Cashasha. So you’re going to want to pour in about two ounces Cashasha. There we go and give it a little bit more of a muddle and a stir. Now it is not necessary to make sure all the sugar dissolves. Because part of the process of drinking a Caipirhina is when you actually have it in your glass is kind of sucking up the raw sugar through the straw. It gives it a nice texture and body, a nice feel to the cocktail.
Ok, and then you add the ice. So anyway this guy is showing me how to make the drink, and I am drinking it all in, like flighty will do when someone charming comes into the bar. La, la, la, and the rest of the week I am feeling like such a bad ass because I know how to make a real authentic Caipirhina. And no one else in town does. And then my friend comes in and she sees me making the drink and telling everyone, oh it’s supposed to be like this. And she is like; hey did that guy come into your bar too? I am like oh man, so like what a Schick, he goes around all the bars in the city area. Telling all the ladies he is going to make them an authentic Caipirhina. Oh well I should try something like that too huh?
Oh I will teach you how to make an authentic Degronnie. Anyway, ok, shake, shake, shake try to dissolve some of that sugar. Shake it up; you don’t want too much solution okay? Shake, okay I think it is going to be ready to serve. Now the thing about a Caipirhina is you don’t want to lose any of that nice chunky lime and stuff, so even though it’s not really the best you don’t want to have tired ice. But right now the way you make this drink you just pour it in the glass and it’s ready to go. Then you add a straw and you’re ready to drink and enjoy. Cheers, Brazil it is a lovely place.
Caipirhina:
1. Slice the ends from a soft ripe lime
2. Rotate & Cut striated slices.
3. Quarter and remove the pith
4. Add 2 tbsp raw sugar
5. Muddle… and then muddle again!
6. Add 2oz. of Cashasha
7. Stir and add ice
8. Shake like crazy
9. Pour into a short glass
10. Add a straw, delicious