Caipirinha

We've developed a tradition of enjoying a traditional meal and/or beverage when watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics (here and here) and we'd hate to feel like we neglected the World Cup in this - but rest assured I've been muddling limes to beat the band since it started last week in Brazil. This drink has been featured here before but no matter - it's so good we posted it twice. 

2oz Cachaça rum

1 - 2 tblsp cane sugar (don't skimp on the sugar)

Half a lime cut into small pieces

Lots of ice

Muddle the sugar and the lime in the bottom of a cocktail shaker or glass (even better if you have a Brazilian hardwood muddler!), add the cachaça and ice and shake before pouring into a chilled glass. 

Tournament's already off to a great start - may the best team win and all the referees be fair. 

Spin-juice-u

It’s been a good week - the sun is shining, the temperatures are perfect for enjoying the balcony and the kid is occupied with his many new sets of Ninjago Lego and Pokémon cards (thank you all!); with this in mind we present another fruity rum drink for you. We muddled some sugar with a slice each of orange, lemon and lime, shook it with cachaça and ice and poured it into tall glasses and topped with guava and pineapple juices. Nice.

The kid enjoyed a mocktail of guava and pineapple juices and a few paper umbrellas and plastic monkeys.

*Helps to know a little about Ninjago and spinjitsu for the name. Also helps to drink this while playing Ninjago.

The Brazilian One

I can’t talk about a caipirinha without talking about my Catalan friend Anna who introduced me to them in the summer of 1994 in Siena, Italy. Apparently, they were all the rage in Barcelona that year because Ronaldo, the Brazilian soccer player, was all the rage with Barça. Anna introduced a barman to them and it was our drink of choice there – when we weren’t drinking wine that is.

It is made with cachaça rum and limes muddled with sugar and poured over ice. It’s not summer if we don’t have one or two of these.

Cheers to a great Labor Day weekend!