Cachaçagora - Cachaça, Caipirinha, And Cocktails

Jeffrey Morgenthaler's Boca Loca Holiday Creations

Noting my interest in cachaça cocktails for the holidays, the folks at Boca Loca sent over some recipes (PDF) from Jeffrey Morgenthaler, who is serving as the brand's consulting mixologist. Jeffrey is the bar manager of the Bel Ami Lounge, as well as the founder of RepealDay.Org and the Oregon Bartenders Guild. Chances are pretty good that, if you're reading my blog, you've followed Jeffrey for some time.

I was curious as to how the Jeffrey/Boca-Loca relationship came about. Jeffrey — who I can only imagine is crushingly busy — graciously took the time to answer my questions. See what he had to say after the jump.

Cuca Fresca's Ready-To-Drink Mixes

The folks at Cuca Fresca sent over their new ready-to-drink cocktails in three flavors: caipirinha, mango, and passion fruit.

All in all, quite good, particularly the passion fruit. (You'll notice its level — the bottle at far right — is slightly lower than the other two.) The caipirinha is a but more sugary than my tastes, but still very refreshing over ice. (And perhaps gives one an idea why the Brazilian government wants to regulate the definition of its national cocktail.)

You can find these in the following states: NY, FL MD, DC, MA, CT, TX, GA, OK, and MO.

Cocktail Recipe: Pomegranate Caipirinha

My friends Renata and Ansgar Graw hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year, serving pomegranate caipirinhas. Of course, I had to have the recipe. (That's Renata in the background above.)

First thing's first: Make sure that you open up the pomegranates under water, since the juice pretty much stains anything it touches if allowed to spray. WikiHow shows you the best way to do it.

The recipe:

Pom Caipi

• About 3 tablespoons of pomegranate seeds
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1 ounce of cachaça

Muddle the sugar and pomegranate seeds in an old-fashioned glass. Fill the glass with ice cubes. Pour the cachaca into the glass. Stir well and serve.

Two pomegranates yielded enough seeds to produce six drinks like the one you see at the top.

We used Velho Barreiro cachaça.

Videos From Sagatiba's Battle Of The Bars, Toronto

Caught this series on Sagatiba's YouTube channel: A "Battle Of The Bars" delivered in nine segments.

Described by the emcee as "a cocktail competition like Vancouver has never seen," representatives from nine bars try to impress six judges with their own Sagatiba creations.

Watch Part One as the contestants "shake, muddle, and pour their way into the judges hearts." (Oh, stop. I report it as I see and hear it.)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9

CMN & Junior Merino With A Leblon Cachaça Holiday Cocktail

As always, Chef Mark, many thanks:

Wrap-Up: Leblon Hosts Thursday Drink Night At The Mixoloseum

I was traveling to Seoul, Tokyo, New Brunswick, and New York the past two weeks. For all that, there was no way I was going to miss Leblon stopping by the Mixoloseum Thursday Drink Night chat.

Two great roundups have the cocktail recipes the group shared, plus all of the photographic goodness.

Great to see that Leblon founder/CEO Steve Luttmann showed up. Hell... He says he even likes our shirts!

UPDATE 2008-11-26: Kaiser Penguin put up a best-of wrap-up as well.

Cabana Throws Party In El Lay, Liquid Muse Is There

Natalie "The Liquid Muse" Bovis-Nelsen writes:

Needless to say, when Cabana Cachaca invited me to sample cocktails by Alex Straus – L.A. barman extraordinaire – paired with Latin-inspired delicacies designed by Executive Chef Todd English at Beso, co-owned with “Desperate Housewives” Eva Longoria Parker and one of the hottest hotspots in the ‘Hollyhood,’ I was excited!

She shares some interesting recipes by Alex Straus. Here's one, the serrano caipirinha:

Serrano Caipirinha

• 2 oz. Cabana Cachaca
• 4 lime wedges
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
• 3 slices Serrano chili

Muddle, serve on the rocks.

For the rest, including photos, check out her post.

Cocktail Recipe: Pineapple Caipirinha

Food blogger Layla has a great recipe with plenty of photographic goodness:

Pineapple Caipirinha

Ingredients

Infused cachaça

• 1 bottle of cachaça
• 1 whole pineapple, peeled* and sliced

Pineapple caipirinha - quantities are for 1 drink

• 2 oz pineapple infused cachaça
• 1/2 lime, cut in small chunks
• 2 tbs freshly crushed pineapple
• 1 tbs sugar
• Crushed ice

Preparation

1. To make the pineapple infused cachaça place the pineapple slices in a large container, pour the cachaça over the pineapple slices, close tightly and let it rest in a dark cool place for a few days – but no longer than a week.
2. Use a muddler to crush and mix the limes and sugar in a cocktail shaker.
3. Add the cachaça, crushed pineapple and ice, mix well and serve immediately.

She also points out that you can keep the pineapple peels for making chicha de piña, a spiced pineapple punch.

Cocktail Recipe: Leblon Punch Caipirinha

Similar to Webtender's featured cocktail earlier in the week, Intoxicologist picked up on a number of Leblon's autumn recipes.

What struck me in particular was this punch recipe, which strikes me as an interesting (not to mention potent) alternative to hot mulled wine.

Leblon Punch Caipirinha

• 1-750ml Bottle of Leblon Cachaça
• 1/2 Bottle Brandy
• 1/4 Bottle Cointreau
• 1/4 Bottle Amaretto
• 3 Bottles Medium Body Red Wine
• 1 large Bottle of Soda Water
• 1/2 cup of Fine White Sugar
• 3 Oranges-sliced
• 20 Cherries – pitted
• 3 Apples – chopped
• 10 Cinnamon sticks
• 8 Cloves
• 10 Star Anise

Combine all ingredients except the soda water into a punch bowl. Let stand for two hours. Just before serving add soda water. Serve over ice in a wine glass.

Also... Here's a cachaça-based punch recipe that uses Gewurztraminer.

Cocktail Recipe: Pumpkin Caipirinha

Keeping with the idea of exploring cachaça's potential in the colder months, here's something I found on The Webtender:

The Pumpkin Caipirinha

• 1 ½ oz. Leblon Cachaça
• ½ Lime
• ½ oz. agave nectar
• 1 ½ oz. Pumpkin Puree
• ½ oz. Canton

Cut lime and place in a shaker with agave nectar and muddle. Add crushed ice, Leblon Cachaça, pumpkin puree and Canton in the shaker. Shake well and garnish with nutmeg, pumpkin flesh twist and lime wheel.