Cachaçagora - Cachaça, Caipirinha, And Cocktails

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.

Review: Cabana Cachaça

It's a long-ish story of how the bottle came to be in my possession (involving dropping in unannounced at Cabana's PR firm), but Cabana found me and gave me a bottle for review.

If all you know of the brand is what you see in their infamous ads, I know that a lot of you really want to hate Cabana Cachaça.

Of course, that would mean that our country's puritans and knee-jerk protestniks would be missing out. Cabana Cachaça is actually quite good — very crisp and smooth, though with a somewhat unique-but-not-overpowering sharpness in the finish. (They certainly employ some of the craft methods that I find characteristic of some of my favorite cachaças thus far — small-batch distillation and aging in jequitibá rosa barrels.)

The zillion-dollar question: Is Cabana the super-premium cachaça they're marketing it as? I'm taking a wait-and-see. The U.S. is still searching for its "Grey Goose" or "Patrón" of cachaça. Cabana, from its marketing to the bottle design, is definitely aiming in that direction.

Like with Leblon, I'm curious as to whether Cabana will be introducing a... umm... let's call it a super-duper-premium cachaça? Further, at US$34.99 a bottle, are they pricing themselves out of the range where cocktail economics carry volume? (I'd imagine a Cabana caipirinha ain't cheap.) Having introduced a product with their amp turned to the mythical "eleven" setting, where do you go from here?

You can always tune in here if-or-when the answer presents itself.

Until then... Four barrels.

Cocktails: "Beija Flor" Cocktail Wins Cabana Cachaça Mixology Contest

It would seem that Cabana Cachaça hosted a mixology contest in the Sens Restaurant in San Francisco. I'm actually in town on a business trip (staying at the excellent Hotel des Arts, where there was one heckuva open house). Wish I'd have known about this!

The winner was Mr. Trent Simpson's "Beija Flor". Here it is:

Beija Flor

• 1 1/2 oz Cabana Cachaça
• 3/4 oz Mint Infused Simple Syrup
• 5 Halves Muddled Farm Fresh Strawberries
• 3 Muddled Blueberries
• Squeeze of Fresh Lime Juice
• 1/2 oz Raspberry Ginger Brew
• Navana Vanilla Cognac Float

Shake vigorously with love, strain over fresh ice in collins glass, garnish with home garden grown fresh Korean medicinal mint sprig.

Cocktails: The Felipe Massa

For those of you motorsports fans, a cocktail named for Felipe Massa:

The Felipe Massa

Created by Tim Cooper of Contemporary Cocktails

• 1 oz Cabana Cachaça
• 1/2 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz simple syrup
• 2 strawberries
• 2 oz Prosseco

Muddle strawberries with lemon juice and simple syrup in the bottom of a mixing glass, then add Cabana and ice. Shake and strain into a champagne glass then top with Prosseco. Garnish with a strawberry wedge and enjoy.

Cabana's Ads: When It Gets So Loud You Can't Avoid It

I swore to myself when Cabana Cachaça's racy ads and Web site started to make waves -- "straight-up porn" according to Time Out Chicago -- I'd just ignore it. It's pretty clear that their marketing is going for the linkbait factor and I'm not inclined to indulge it too much.

But, when you're a blog that's all-cachaça-all-the-time, there's an expectation that you'd have something to say about such a widely covered campaign.

First, let me just say that America's Puritan roots are showing a little too much these days. One might think that, decades after pure-as-the-driven-snow Julie "Mary Poppins" Andrews insisted on showing the moviegoing public her breasts, and days after the FCC gave CBS a pass for Nipplegate, that we'd be past all this.

Nope. Not a chance. Alas, there remains this irrational fear. A uniquely American fear of the female nipple that's getting bigger.

(Err... The fear, I mean.)

On the other hand, I personally tend to find the whole "sex sells" ethic cynical, especially when you're selling a product (alcohol) that, when tied too closely to sex, often results in rather unfortunate consequences in the real world.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not a prude and you're not going to find me hanging out in front of Cabana's importer naked wearing a sandwich board chanting "Spirits Not Skin!", "Cachaça Not Crotch!", or "Tipples Not Nipples!"

However, I'm inclined to pay more attention to a cachaça brand that has more to say about the craft and the product.

Surf over to BlogHer for the best roundup of this campaign I've seen so far, exploring the ads much more deeply than mere reactionary feminism.

One commenter even wonders whether it is the women who are being exploited...

...or the men.

Cocktail Recipe: Cabana Shrub

A Dash Of Bitters comes through with this cocktail recipe from the ever-controversial Cabana Cachaca. (More on that later.)

Cabana Shrub

• 1-1/2 oz. Cabana Cachaça
• 1 oz. Raspberry Shrub Syrup
• 1/8 oz. lime juice
• 1 oz. Fever Tree Premium Ginger Ale

Build in a short ice-filled glass. Top with ginger ale. Garnish with a sugar cane stick.

Click through to the post to learn how to make the raspberry shrub syrup.