Blackberry Caipirinha Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What pairs well with caipirinhas? ›

You can drink Caipirinhas with the same sort of snacks you'd eat with a Margarita, Daquiri or a Mojito - salsa fresca and tortilla chips, guacamole and empanadas (of which there is a Brazilian version at Mocoto) but I enjoyed the Pasteles de Palmito, little deep-fried pastries stuffed with palm hearts and cheese.

You can make a caipirinha without cachaça by substituting the cachaça for vodka. It's actually pretty simple – just swap out the cachaça for vodka and you'll still get that delicious, refreshing flavour that makes caipirinhas so great. Just follow the same recipe, but use vodka instead of cachaça.

The base spirit is cachaça, which is made from sugarcane as opposed to Rum which is made with molasses. cachaça can be very harsh and so was mixed with lime and sugar to mask the taste. Nowadays different fruits are also commonly added to make variations on the classic Caipirinha, a blend of cachaça, lime and sugar.

Caipirinhas are most commonly made with granulated sugar, but brown sugar works too if you like the molasses-y flavor it brings. No matter which sugar you choose, don't stop muddling until the sugar crystals are no longer visible—that means they've completely dissolved into the citrus juice.

The thing that is special about them, then, is the liquor. You must use cachaça, which is similar to rum but sweeter. Cachaça is similar to white rum in that it is made from sugarcane; but unlike white rum, which is made from molasses or other sugars, cachaça is made directly from sugarcane juice.

How Strong Is the Caipirinha? Much like other liquor-only muddled co*cktails, there is not much in the caipirinha to dilute the liquor. Factoring in a little lime juice and a meager amount of dilution, its alcohol content falls around 30 percent ABV (60 proof).

With properties similar to cachaça, rhum agricole is a good alternative to use if you're looking to try this liquor but can't find it in your local store.

On the other hand, the caipirinha, Brazil's national co*cktail, offers a zestier, more robust taste. The use of cachaça, a type of Brazilian rum made from sugarcane juice, gives the caipirinha a stronger, more pungent flavor profile compared to the mojito's.

Cachaça has a distinct flavor, but you could still use other liquors for a close taste. Many people start with, of course, white rum. Other substitutes include tequila and vodka. With vodka on hand, you could also whip up another co*cktail like the Lemon-Lime Vodka Soda.

Old Fashioned glass

Caipirinha / Drinkware

What is the strongest drink in Brazil? ›

The caipirinha is the strongest national co*cktail of Brazil, and is imbibed in restaurants, bars, and many households throughout the country.

Jambú-infused cachaça is bitter and a bit grassy, and newcomers to the drink often grimace at first taste. But seconds later something happens: the liquor's harshness gives way to a gentle tingling, then numbness, first on the tip of the tongue, then to the lips and the back of the throat.

It is typically between 38% and 48% alcohol by volume. When homemade, it can be as strong as the distiller wants. Up to six grams per litre of sugar may be added.

On the rocks; poured over ice

Caipirinha / Served

Batidas are another popular Brazilian drink, and they're similar to caipirinhas. The main difference is that batidas are made with fruit juices instead of just lime juice. So if you're looking for a fruity co*cktail, a batida is the perfect choice. Popular flavors include mango, coconut, and passionfruit.

What is cachaça? Like tequila in Mexico, pisco in Peru, and bourbon in the U.S., cachaça is an exclusively Brazilian product that can only be produced in Brazil. Cachaça is a distillate made from fermented and distilled freshly-pressed sugar cane juice.