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Sweet Sizzlers
The Caipirinha Is Brazil’s Best Kept Cocktail Secret No More
It's Not every libation that’s made to order to please patrons’
collective yen for something novel yet familiar, not to mention
classic, all at once.
Just as the Tango left the barrios of Rio de
Janeiro in the latter decades of the 19th century and found
respectability as an art form in Europe and North America, so, too, has
the Caipirinha, a concoction made from fresh squeezed limes, sugar and
cachaça –– the national drink of Brazil since the introduction of sugar
cane in the 16th century –– shed its original image as an ethnic drink
suited only for the lowly peasant class.
Literally translated from the Portuguese as “little hick,” the
Caipirinha conquered European cocktail palates as far back as the early
1990s. And with imports of cachaça to North America increasing
steadily, the Caipirinha fast is gaining a reputation in North America
as a genuine connoisseur’s cocktail and the next big breakout Latin
spirit.
Holy Trinity
What the Margarita did for tequila sales in North America in recent
years, Southern Wine & Spirits of Nevada Beverage Specialist
Armando Rosario predicts the Caipirinha ultimately will do for the
popularity of cachaça (pronounced kah-SHAH-sah), more than 400 years
after the brandy first was distilled from the juice of sugar cane.
“It has a bright future in America,” says Rosario, a Portuguese
national who grew up in Mozambique before immigrating to the United
States and Las Vegas, where he currently serves as a spirits ambassador
for such popular cachaça brands as premium Agua Luca, as well as Ypíoca
and Pitú. Already, he says, cachaça is the third most consumed spirit
in the world.
Although imports to the United States still are numbered in the
thousands, as opposed to Germany, which imported 15 million bottles of
cachaça last year, Rosario says, “With the new trends in Latin flavors
and cultures, the Caipirinha is becoming the new trendy cocktail.”
Part of its universal appeal to patrons is its close connection to other Latin classics.
“The Caipirinha is a very close relative of the Margarita,” Rosario
says. “It is sugar- and lime-based, like the original Margarita.”
The common sugar cane component and the use of fresh lime and sugar
also make the Caipirinha a close cousin to the rum-inspired Mojito, he
adds, something that is a decided advantage in getting patrons to try
the drink for the first time.
In integrating them into beverage programs, Rosario endeavors to
get bartenders to look at the Caipirinha just as they would any
classic.
“To be good, it has to be done right, with a hands-on approach,” he
says. “I go to bars, and I make the Caipirinha in front of them. Its
beauty is its simplicity. There are only three ingredients, that are
readily available, and that makes the Caipirinha very
approachable.”When In RomeThe Caipirinha is by far the No. 1 cocktail
among the several hundred thousand guests who frequent Atlanta’s Fogo
de Chão each year. On an average night at the rodizio-style Brazilian
steakhouse and bar chain, Fogo’s Amyn Bana says the house typically
sells 500 Caipirinha cocktails at $8.50 to $10.50 each, with annual
sales easily approaching the $200,000 mark.
“When you are at the Kentucky Derby, you drink a Mint Julep,” says
Bana. “And when guests come here, to a restaurant they know to be
authentic and true to the culture and cuisine of Brazil down to the
last detail, they drink Caipirinhas.”
Indeed, for guests who enjoy the house specialty and return often
with friends eager to try them as well, he says the Brazilian classic
cocktail is a built-in promotion in and of itself.
“If you look at any other cocktail, you won’t see fruit, except in
the garnish,” Bana says. “But in Brazil, fruit is part of the beverage.
You will see the whole lime. It is very distinctive with its bright
green color.”
Along with an enthusiastic waitstaff always eager to promote the
cocktail to guests as part of an overall Brazilian steakhouse dining
experience singled out recently for its excellence by Nation’s
Restaurant News, Bana says Fogo’s Caipirinha recipe –– adhered to
religiously by all his bartenders –– may be the real promotional key to
its multi-million-dollar success.The recipe, one that has withstood the
test of legions of customers over seven years of operation, calls for a
white cachaça, such as Fogo’s Velho Barreiro well brand or its premium
boutique brand, Leblon. And not just any old lime will do either, for
Fogo’s signature house drink, Bana says. “I don’t use the large ones,
because they are too sour, or the small ones, because they don’t
produce enough juice.”After cutting the limes lengthwise into quarters
and discarding the vein in the middle of the fruit, Bana next slices
the limes into eighths in the same direction before turning them and
cutting the pieces into shorter sections. Bana places the pieces in a
glass and adds at least two tablespoons of a fine sugar.
“The way I was taught, however much sugar you think is right, put
in a little extra,” Bana says.With each and every Caipirinha made at
Fogo, Bana says bartenders muddle the limes and sugar thoroughly, for
at least 60 seconds, until the lime pulp and sugar are liquefied in the
bottom of the glass.
Ice is then added, followed by the cachaça, and the cocktail is
shaken to chill the drink and further blend the ingredients. A splash
of soda is added to the drink as a final step to cut the tartness as
well as to dilute the 2.5-ounce pour of cachaça slightly.
As with any delicate signature cocktail, Bana says venues should guard
the consistency of its Caipirinhas by maintaining a steady supply of
fresh ingredients through reliable suppliers, and by training
bartenders to make the same drink time and again.
“I had two Brazilians behind me all the time while I was learning to
make the Caipirinha. It took me 20 times to make one
right.” NCB
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