Melon Caipirinha
A fruity and sour cachaça cocktail ∙ Muddle ∙ 3 min ∙ 16% ABV ∙
The Melon Caipirinha is a Brazilian-style cocktail of cachaça, lime and cantaloupe melon muddled with sugar and served over crushed ice.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Cut half a Fresh lime into wedges and drop into the glass
- Add Powdered sugar 3 bsp (or 15 ml sugar syrup) and muddle
- Add Melon 1 slice and muddle again
- Add Cachaça 60 ml and stir until the sugar dissolves
- Fill the glass with crushed ice and stir
- Top with more crushed ice and serve with a stirrer
History
The Melon Caipirinha is a modern fruit variation on the Caipirinha with no documented creator, one of the many muddled-fruit riffs that spread as the drink traveled abroad. It keeps the cachaça, lime, and sugar of the original and muddles in cantaloupe for a sweeter, fruitier profile.
The Caipirinha's own origin is disputed: one account traces it to landowning farmers of the Piracicaba region of São Paulo state, another to a 1918 home remedy for the Spanish flu made with lime, garlic, and honey. A less documented story places that early remedy in Portugal's Alentejo region.
FAQ
What alcohol is in a Melon Caipirinha?
Cachaça, a Brazilian sugarcane spirit: 60 ml, muddled with lime, powdered sugar and a slice of cantaloupe. The drink comes in at about 16% ABV; the melon adds volume but no alcohol, so it is a bit lighter than a classic Caipirinha.
How do you make a Melon Caipirinha?
Muddle half a lime, cut into wedges, with powdered sugar in the glass, then add a slice of cantaloupe and muddle again. Stir in the cachaça until the sugar dissolves, fill with crushed ice, stir, top with more ice and serve with a stirrer.
