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.

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.

"Breaking The Law... Breaking The Law..."

It's hard not to view Leblon's micro-site dedicated to the "Five-Second Caipirinha" in light of Brazil's federal caipirinha guidelines. Nevertheless, I'm sure these recipes are tasty.

Update 2008-11-04: I just made one. Not bad. Not bad at all.

Five Cachaça Cocktails From Epicurious

Naren Young — you may know him from Leblon's Naren & Jacob vids — offers up five new cocktails, complete with food pairings.

And with only four-and-a-half hours left in the weekend. Drat.

• Caipirinha de Uva
• Pearl Button
• Sangria Blanco
• Amazonia
• Bloody Carioca

Three Cocktail Recipe Vids From Sagatiba

Sagatiba appears to be doing a particularly good job of developing and sharing cachaça-based cocktails for the Fall season, something I mentioned in the most recent State of the Spirit post. Enjoy!

Autumn Breeze

Saga 7

Bikini Martini

Culinary Media Network, Junior Merino Present Cachaça/Absinthe Cocktail

"Chef Mark" Tafoya comes through again with another cachaça cocktail recipe, this time featuring Leblon and the quite misunderstood absinthe, masterfully mixed by Junior "The Liquid Chef" Merino.

Longtime readers might remember the Sagatiba video feature Mark did in July.

You'll also want to check out another cachaça/absinthe recipe, Summer in São Paulo.

Cocktail Recipe: A VeeV / Cachaça Mixture

I have to admit... I wanted so much to not like VeeV, the açai-based liquor. After all, açai is this year's pomegranate and currently an Oprah fave.

However, a bartender at De La Costa generously gave me a sample and, well, I was quite impressed. Lots and lots of possibilities.

Shaken & Stirred shares an interesting recipe, credited to the Cantina's Duggan McDonnell, that combines Veev and Beleza Pura cachaça.

• 1.5 oz VeeV
• 1.0 oz Beleza Pura Cachaça
• Crushed mint
• Ginger
• Lemon
• Agave nectar
• Ginseng drizzle

Muddle the mint and ginger then combine 1.5 oz VeeV, 1.0 Beleza Pura Cachaça, the juice of a lemon, a touch of agave nectar and ice in a cocktail shaker and shake. Strain into cocktail glass, and squeeze an orange peel over the drink. Next, make a reverse 'boat' with the peel, drop in pith side up, and squeeze a few drops of ginseng into the boat.

Call It "Çeasonality"

Awhile back, in my first State Of The Spirit post, I posted my first graph highlighting searches for "cachaça" in the U.S.

Here's an update, just to cap off the seasonal trend.

Basically, you can count on interest in cachaça to peak in early-to-mid July and taper off sharply as the summer ends.

Leads me to think about how cachaça marketers can think about evening out the peaks-and-valleys a bit.

Here's one idea: coffee drinks using aged cachaças.

Aimee over at Sagatiba's comms firm thoughtfully sent over some airplane bottles of Sagatiba Velha, the U.S. introduction of which was leaked some time ago. The press materials included the recipe for the Velha Espresso:

Velha Espresso

• 1.5 ounces Sagatiba Velha
• 3/4 ounce of Tousaint coffee liqueur or Kahlua especial black label
• Single or double shot of espresso
• Dash of simple syrup

Add Sagatiba, coffee liqueur and espresso to a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously to make foam. Pour into a frozen martini glass. Float three coffee beans in the foam.

It'll be interesting to see if cachaça marketers similarly expand the nature of their recommended recipes.

Cocktail Recipe: Batida Mango

We're quickly reaching a point in 2008 where drinks like this are getting a bit out of season, but just in case you have one more outdoor cocktail-party-slash-barbecue in you, here's a recent contribution from Drink Ideas:

Batida Mango Drink

Batida Mango with cachaça, mangoes, granulated sugar and crushed ice. You may be able to forgo the sugar since mango can get pretty sweet.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz cachaça
• 4 oz fresh chopped mangoes
• 2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1 cup crushed ice

Method: Place all ingredients into a blender. Blend well, pour into a wine glass, and serve.