Caipirinha

WPMIXInfobox
iba = yes
name = Caipirinha


caption = National cocktail of Brazil
type = cocktail
flaming =
cachaça = yes
served = rocks
garnish = lime
drinkware = old
ingredients = * 5.0 cl (1⅔ fl oz) cachaça
* ½ Fresh Lime cut into 4 wedges
* 2 teaspoons Muscovado sugar
prep = Place lime and sugar into old fashioned glass and muddle (mash the two ingredients together using a muddler or a wooden spoon). Fill the glass with crushed ice and add the Cachaça.
notes = A wide variety of fresh fruits can be used in place of lime. In the absence of cachaça, vodka can be used.
footnotes =

Caipirinha (pronounced [IPA|kaj.pi.'ɾĩ.jɐ] ) or [KIE-PUR-REEN-YAH] ) is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (pronounced IPA2|ˌkaˈʃasɐ), sugar and lime. Cachaça is Brazil's most common distilled alcoholic beverage. Like rum, it is made from sugarcane. Cachaça is made from sugarcane alcohol, obtained from the fermentation of sugarcane juice which is afterwards distilled.

Popularity

The caipirinha is the national drink of Brazil,cite web|last=Mackay|first=Jordan|url=http://www.7x7sf.com/eat_drink/featured_drinks/3545572.html|title=Made in Brazil|date=August 10, 2006|publisher="7x7 San Francisco." Hartle Media, Inc.|accessdate=2007-01-14] and is enjoyed in restaurants, bars, and many households throughout the country. Once almost unknown outside Brazil, the drink has become more popular and more widely available in recent years, in large part due to the rising availability of first-rate brands of cachaça outside Brazil.cite web|last=Willey|first=Rob|url=http://www.belezabrazil.com/pages/pres_03.asp?id=70|publisher=Cane and Able|month=February | year=2006|title=Everyday with Rachael Ray|accessdate=2007-01-14|quote=The caipirinha--a sour-sweet combination of crushed limes, sugar and cachaça—has become the darling of American bartenders, and first-rate cachaça is at last finding a place on American liquor-store shelves.] The International Bartender Association has designated it as one of their Official Cocktailscite web|publisher=IBA|url=http://www.iba-world.com/english/cocktails/|date=2005-2007|title=IBA Homepage|accessdate=2007-04-14] .

Name

The word "caipirinha" is the diminutive version of the word "caipira", which refers to someone from the countryside, being an almost exact equivalent of the American English "hillbilly". The word may be used as either a masculine or a feminine noun, but when referring to this drink it is only feminine (usage of diminutives is conspicuous in Brazil). However, a Brazilian hardly ever thinks of a "country person" when ordering a "Caipirinha". In the mind of a Brazilian, the word "Caipirinha" is mostly associated with the drink itself.

Variations

*Most variations of the caipirinha arise from the unavailability of some ingredient, such as the caipiroska, in which vodka substitutes for cachaça. "Caipirissima" is a caipirinha made with rum instead of cachaça; the word was coined for an advertisement for a popular rum brand on the late 70's, and it is not widely employed.

*The term "caipirinha" is sometimes used to describe any cachaça and fruit juice drink (e.g. a "Passionfruit Caipirinha"), although the technical term for these types of drinks is "batida".

*Caipifruta is a very popular caipirinha drink in Brazil, consisting of cachaça, crushed fresh fruits (either singly or in combination), condensed milk and crushed ice. The most popular fresh fruits used to create Caipifrutas are tangerine, grapefruit, kiwi fruit, passion fruit, pineapple, berries, grapes, mango, cajá, and caju.

ee also

*Sour (cocktail)
*Cocktails with cachaça
*List of cocktails with cachaça
*Cachaça
*List of Brazilian dishes

References and notes

External links

* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9068722155758179455&hl=en How to Make A Caipirinha on Google Video]
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOOEar1woto Making a Caipirinha on YouTube]
* [http://www.instructables.com/id/EV15TQU9CZEX504E7X?ALLSTEPS Another Caipirinha Recipe with step by step photos]