If you’ve never kicked back with a caipirinha, you’re in for a tart, sweet, and surprisingly potent treat. Mixed with lime, sugar, and cachaça, a Brazilian spirit made from sugarcane, the caipirinha claims the title of Brazil’s national cocktail. For us, it’s just the refreshing sip we need to beat the summer heat.
Here, three ways to serve it up—from sweet and juicy to savory and spicy, all made with our favorite small-batch artisanal Yaguara cachaça—that are pretty to boot.
A classic caipirinha is perfect for staving off the summer heat. Our take uses Yaguara cachaça and lots of lime.
Classic Caipirinha
You can’t go wrong with tradition. We always love the tartness of a caipirinha with lots of muddled lime. And the ingredients are simple enough that we’ve shaken up a few right on sandy beaches by the ocean.
Ingredients:
3 lime wedges
2 heaping teaspoons fine sugar (to taste)
2 oz. cachaça
Directions:
In a tumbler gently muddle lime wedges and sugar. Add cachaça and ice cubes. Stir, and garnish with a slice of lime.
Our watermelon-mint caipirinha is one part sweet, one part minty, and utterly cooling.
Watermelon-Mint Caipirinha
If you prefer a little sweetness, we’re all for this extra extra refreshing watermelon-and-mint version. It has all the fundamentals (and potency) of a classic caipirinha along with the hydrating deliciousness of watermelon. The recipe below is for one, but you might want to stir up a pitcher’s worth to make serving easy (and pretty).
Ingredients:
2 lime wedges
3 mint leaves
1 teaspoon fine sugar
4 watermelon chunks
2 oz. watermelon juice
2 oz. cachaça
Directions:
In a short tumbler gently muddle lime, mint, sugar, and watermelon chunks. Add watermelon juice, cachaça, and ice cubes. Stir and garnish with watermelon wedge.
We’re spicing things up with this basil, cucumber, and jalapeño caipirinha. It tastes even more flavorful than it sounds.
Spicy Cucumber-Basil Caipirinha
We’re of the thinking that you can always kick up a cocktail with some extra spice. That about sums up this basil, cucumber, and jalapeño caipirinha!
Ingredients:
2 lime wedges
5 thin slices of Persian cucumber
3 thin slices of jalapeño pepper (to taste)
1 medium basil leaf
2 heaping teaspoons fine sugar (to taste)
2 oz. cachaca
Directions:
In a rocks glass gently muddle lime, cucumber, jalapeno, basil, and sugar. Add cachaça and ice cubes. Stir and garnish with basil.
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