Caipirinha

Caipirinhas are popular.  

I've noticed the drink's visibility has increased substantially over the last few years.  The drink has been featured in magazine spreads with recipes and prominent listings on cocktail menus.  Also, there has been a greater availability of cachaça in liquor stores as the drink climbs the proverbial cocktail charts.   All of these things occurring in short order.

I first had a Caipirinha in a Spanish restaurant, if you can believe it (the drink is of Brazilian origin).  In a review of the place, the writer noted how good their cocktails were, the Caipirinha with particularity.  So I tried one.  It was excellent.  It was refreshing, easy to drink, and the remnants of the sugar and lime were a nice finish.

A while back, I decided I'd try making them at home.  I don't remember whether I liked them or not, but I didn't make them again.  It's likely that I just forgot about the cachaça bottle - having sat behind handles of other liquors, which blocked my view.

I'm excited to try it again.  And, I got a muddler - a device used, in this recipe anyway, to mash the lime and sugar together in the bottom of the glass.  I have no idea what I had used before purchasing this muddler, but I doubt it was as effective.  

[Added bonus: the 2nd appearance of Al Harrington, The South Pacific Man, first featured in the Old Fashioned]

To the drink!

American Bar, page 67

Caipirinha

lime 

2oz cachaça

1-2 barspoons sugar (or sugar cubes)

Place lime wedge and sugar into a small highball glass, press well with a pestle, pour in cachaça, stir. Fill with crushed ice and stir.

Al Harrington, The South Pacific Man, limes, and the muddler

Al Harrington overseas the mingling of sugar and lime

A homemade Caipirinha is totally different than any version I've ordered at a bar.  It's noticeably stronger, and less watered down.  The cachaça has a fiery tinge to it; it's warming.  I almost can't get over how different his drink is compared to a bar version.  The cachaça is a little harsh at first, though perhaps that is due to the quality of the bottle that I have (it's probably low-to-mid range cachaça - think something along the equivalent of Jim Beam bourbon).  It almost goes without saying, but, this is a very similar drink to a mojito.  It's clean, refreshing, and one of them is rarely enough.

I planned to take a photo of the drink itself, but it only filled up about 1/2 the glass, or maybe even less.  As a result, I just went ahead and started sipping.  Before I knew it though, the glass was empty, and I was sipping the lime and sugar combo at the bottom of the glass.  Time flies, right?  

The good news is that I had cut enough lime slices for a second drink, and honestly what gets you about these Caipirinha's is the sweet lime juice at the bottom of the glass from the residual sugar and lime.  It's the reason you keep going back!!  It's the reason I went back anyway.

So, as a result of making this second drink, I was able to take a photo of the glass.

And now, two drinks in, this Caipirinha is simply fantastic!  Whatever harshness I first felt with the cachaça is now mellow - though it is likely that some sugar was still in the glass from the first drink.  In fact, now that I'm staring at the bottom of the glass (I told you it was good!), I can see a bunch of sugar slowly cascading down the bottom of the glass as I sip away at the sugared lime juice.  Phew, another dangerous drink.

Big fan of this one.  I think it's a go-to choice in the summer.  You can adjust the amount of cachaça accordingly for the audience.  Some of the ladies may prefer a splash of distilled water to cut down some of the harsher qualities of cachaça at the get-go.  Another option is a splash of club soda, which may add another refreshing element to the drink.

The recipe above, however, is all you need for a quality cocktail.  As they say in Brazil, the the Caipirinha is a vencedor ← that means "winner" in Portuguese (who knew you'd learn foreign languages here?!).  

Drink Six - The Old Fashioned

The final recipe of the first six drinks...The Old Fashioned!

According to Wikipedia, the Old Fashioned may have been the first cocktail.  There are many different recipes for this drink, and it has so many components, it's easy to see why some would be replaced with others (or omitted entirely).

Recipe
American Bar, page 145

1 sugar cube
dashes Angostura bitters
2 oz bourbon
soda
stemmed cherry
orange
lemon

Place sugar cube in an old fashioned glass, saturate with Angostura, add orange and lemon wedges, press with a pestle, add bourbon, stir well, add ice cubes, fill with soda or water, stir again, garnish with cherry.


This is by far the most complicated recipe to date.  I used what little Woodford Reserve I had left for the bourbon, real deal Angostura bitters, and thankfully our local Farm Fresh Delivery service had sent oranges and lemons this past Thursday.  I had everything in the recipe at the house, except for the sugar cube and the ice cubes.  I know, I know.  You're saying to yourself "how does he not have ice cubes"?  A good question, though, if you saw the state of the freezer, you'd understand. 

It's not that my freezer is gross or anything, it's merely packed to the brim with a ton of great Costco purchases.  And, my freezer doesn't have its own ice-making machine.  The result of all of this is that I need to pick up an ice bag from time to time.  That's what I did - running to the local Village Pantry (specializing in ice bags and monthly hold-ups).

Once I had everything in place, I started trying to find something that looked like an old fashioned glass.  Not knowing what one would look like, I tried to find a lowball glass that might fit the bill.

And then...and then I gazed upon the finest glass in my collection.  Was it my quirky economics based glass that tracks the NYSE ebb and flow in the 1960's?  No, but alas, that is an outstanding piece of hardware that will definitely be used in the future.

What glass was it?  What I saw, and what would serve as the vessel for this very drink, was my Al Harrington, The South Pacific Man, glass.  I have two of them - somehow finding the pair at a thrift store many years ago.

You're saying to yourself - but I've never heard of this gentleman - who is this man of mystery?!?  I will show you...

Here is the front, announcing Mr. Harrington:

And here is the back -with Mr. Harrington himself:

Genius!!  Love this guy.

Alright, so here are all of the drinks components, including Mr. Harrington:

To the drink itself... 

I'm not sure what to make of it.  When I mashed the sugar, angostura bitters and the wedges together, the glass smelled great!  It was kind of a summer-like spice mixture that I thought would pave the way towards something excellent.

But when it came to sipping time, I was getting bits of pulp with each sip.  I like pulp in my OJ, but not in my cocktails.

It tastes like a watery bourbon drink, with a touch of bitters.  Whatever addition the sugar and fruits are adding gets diluted by the soda water.  I can taste some of the orange at times, which is a nice compliment to the bourbon, but I'd probably cut back on the soda water, or not use any at all.  I think the soda water just takes away from the flavors one would want in this drink, namely: bourbon, bitters and sweet orange and lemon.

The more I type this post out though, the more I'm sipping this drink, and liking it.  It has a refreshing quality, sitting over the ice.  And as the ice melts away, yet more of the flavor does as well.  On second thought, just skip the club soda entirely.  The ice will provide enough liquid to balance the drink out - no need for any additional water (unless watered-down drinks are your style).

The old fashioned, with the necessary adjustments, is a winner.  But the real highlight this evening is being able to share the moment with Al Harrington, The South Pacific Man!