Drinks

The Caipirinha: Brazil’s National Cocktail

Composed of cachaça, limes and sugar, the Caipirinha (pronounced kie-purr-REEN-yah) is Brazil’s national cocktail.  Cachaça is the most commonly distilled alcohol in Brazil, and is often referred to as “Brazilian rum.”  But unlike rum, which is distilled from the sugar byproduct, molasses, cachaça is distilled from fermented sugar cane juice.

Not too long ago, the Caipirinha was a drink only enjoyed in Brazil, in large part because cachaça, especially good cachaça, wasn’t readily available outside of Brazil.  But in recent years the drink has begun to experience a revival and is popping up on cocktail menus across the world.  Hell, even TGI Friday’s offers a version of the Caipirinha, though it’s usually flavored and overly sweet.

Ingredients:

2 ounces cachaça
1 medium lime, cut into wedges
2 teaspoons fine sugar

Add lime and sugar to an old fashioned glass and muddle.  Add crushed ice, then cachaça, and stir.

Cachaça isn’t always easy to find, but many liquor stores will carry at least one brand.  Some available cachaças include Cabana, Leblon and Heaven Hill’s Agua Luca.

Source: CocktailEnthusiast

Link to the original site

The Moonlight Cocktail

While doing a bit of light reading on the Aviation cocktail, I came across a drink created by Gary Regan that he dubbed the Moonlight Cocktail.

According to Gary, “I merely took the Aviation formula and tweaked it a little. I used Cointreau instead of maraschino, and lime instead of lemon juice. Why lime? I had no lemons.”  Finding his reasoning sound, I went about crafting myself a cocktail.

I started with Plymouth Gin, which is my go-to gin when making a new drink, and Rothman and Winter’s Creme de Violette, a violet flower liqueur that became available to the U.S. market in 2007.  The end result was a pretty tasty cocktail, with the vibrant orange flavor of Cointreau and the soft, violet flavor of Creme de Violette complementing each other well.  Both were kept in check by the half ounce of lime juice, which tempered the drink’s sweetness to a very manageable, pleasant level.  Gary may be onto something here.

The Moonlight Cocktail

1 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce Cointreau
1/2 ounce Creme de Violette
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice

Shake with ice, and strain into a chilled Champagne flute.

Source: CocktailEnthusiast

Link to the original site

Rethinking the Aviation Cocktail

Last night I wandered into one of my favorite local cocktail spots and ordered an Aviation, that tasty, well-balanced drink with gin, maraschino and fresh lemon juice.  A few minutes later, when a nearly purple cocktail was placed in front of me, I assumed there had been some mistake.  But when your bartender quotes Gary Regan as to the authenticity of your purple Aviation, it’s hard to argue.

It seems the original Aviation included the little used and hard to find liqueur, Creme de Violette.  Gary Regan notes that a 1916 recipe called for two parts gin, one part lemon juice and a couple dashes each of maraschino and Creme de Violette, which “makes for a very sour drink indeed.”  Instead, Regan proposes using three parts gin and one part each of the liqueurs and the lemon juice.

While I still love the Aviation sans Violette, this new-to-me concoction is really quite good.  Plus, it gives the drink an interesting purplish hue.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce maraschino liqueur
1/2 ounce Creme de Violette
1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice

Shake with ice, and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Source: CocktailEnthusiast

Link to the original site