Caipirinha
Muddle; Swizzle ∙ 4 min ∙ 22.9% ABV ∙
The Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail: fresh lime muddled with sugar in the glass, then cachaça, swizzled over crushed ice.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Chop half a Fresh lime into 3-4 wedges and drop into the glass
- Squeeze the juice from the other half of the Fresh lime into the glass
- Add Powdered sugar 3 bsp and muddle
- Once the sugar is dissolved, pour Cachaça 60 ml into the glass
- Swizzle to combine
- Fill the glass with crushed ice
- Swizzle again, then top with more ice
- Garnish with a lime wedge
Tips
- Cut half the lime into 3-4 wedges and squeeze the other half into the glass. Muddle firmly with the sugar, but don't pulverize the peel or the drink turns bitter.
- Swizzle hard with a bar spoon or swizzle stick for about 10 seconds so the whole glass chills evenly, then top up with ice and add the lime wedge.
History
The Caipirinha's origin is disputed. One account traces it to the interior of São Paulo state, where landowning farmers in the Piracicaba region are said to have served the drink at high-society parties in the 19th century, reflecting the region's sugarcane culture. Another, widely repeated account places its creation around 1918, during the Spanish flu pandemic, as a home remedy made with lime, garlic, and honey. A further theory ties the drink's ancestry to Poncha, a sugarcane-spirit drink from Madeira, Portugal. The name derives from "caipira," a Portuguese term for a person from the Brazilian countryside, rendered in the diminutive.
By the 1930s the drink had spread beyond São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, and in 2003 a Brazilian federal decree defined it as the typical Brazilian drink.
FAQ
What alcohol is in a Caipirinha?
Only cachaça, a Brazilian spirit distilled from fresh sugarcane juice. A 60 ml pour with the lime and sugar makes a drink of about 23 percent ABV.
What does a Caipirinha have in it?
One fresh lime (half cut into wedges, half squeezed), 3 bar spoons of powdered sugar and 60 ml of cachaça, swizzled over crushed ice.
Is a Caipirinha shaken or stirred?
Neither: it's swizzled. You muddle the lime and sugar in the glass, add the cachaça and crushed ice, and swizzle with a swizzle stick or bar spoon. Nothing is shaken or strained.
What's the difference between a Mojito and a Caipirinha?
A Caipirinha is cachaça, lime, and sugar swizzled over crushed ice with no soda; a Mojito adds mint and soda water to rum, lime, and sugar, making it lighter, fizzier, and lower in alcohol.
