Caipirinha Recipe

Before you start

The caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail and one of the simplest drinks to build: lime wedges and sugar crushed together in the glass, then cachaça and ice. It is bright, raw and grassy, with a texture that changes as the sugar dissolves and the ice melts. Because nothing is strained out, every step happens in the serving glass.

Cachaça is a Brazilian spirit distilled from fresh sugarcane juice. It has a vegetal, slightly funky character that sets it apart from molasses-based rums. The key technique is muddling: press firmly enough to release juice and some oil from the peel, but not so hard that you grind the bitter white pith. Cutting out the pith core before muddling helps a lot.

Ingredients

• ½ lime — cut into 4 wedges with the pithy center removed
• 2 tsp (8–10 g) superfine or white sugar
• 60 ml (2 oz) cachaça — unaged (prata) or lightly aged
• 1 cup (about 150 g) cracked or crushed ice

Method

1. Cut the lime half into 4 wedges. Slice off the white core running along the center of each wedge; it is the main source of bitterness.
2. Put the lime wedges in a sturdy rocks glass, peel side down, and add the sugar.
3. Muddle with firm presses and a gentle twist for about 10 seconds, until the sugar is mostly dissolved in the juice. Avoid grinding the peel.
4. Add the cachaça and stir to dissolve any remaining sugar.
5. Fill the glass with cracked ice and stir for a few seconds to chill. Serve with a short straw or stirrer.

Tips for success

• Superfine sugar dissolves faster than granulated sugar in cold lime juice. You can pulse regular sugar in a blender for a few seconds.
• Use a muddler with a flat, unvarnished end; toothed muddlers tear the peel and release bitterness.
• Taste after stirring and add a pinch more sugar if your limes are sharp.

Substitutions

Cachaça

Vodka makes a caipiroska, which is cleaner and less grassy. White rhum agricole is the closest match in flavor.

Sugar

10 ml simple syrup dissolves instantly but removes the gritty, rustic texture that many people like.

Lime

Passion fruit pulp, pineapple chunks or strawberries muddled with the lime make popular fruit variations.

Variations

Passion fruit caipirinha

Add the pulp of 1 passion fruit when muddling and a teaspoon more sugar.

Caipiroska

Swap the cachaça for vodka and follow the same method.

Troubleshooting

It tastes bitter

You muddled too hard or left the pith core in. Remove the center and press more gently.

There is sugar at the bottom

Muddle longer before adding cachaça, or use superfine sugar.

It is too strong

Add more ice and stir longer; the dilution softens the spirit.

Storage

Make and serve each caipirinha fresh; muddled lime turns bitter as it sits.

Safety notes

Contains 60 ml of cachaça, which at about 40% ABV is roughly 1.4 U.S. standard drinks (one standard drink is about 14 g of pure alcohol). Serve only to adults of legal drinking age, and never drink and drive.