Having solved every other problem, Brazil's government passed a resolution on Friday that puts federal guidelines behind its national cocktail, the caipirinha.
From the Associated Press by way of NowPublic:
So how do you make Brazil's national cocktail?
Maybe you'd better call a lawyer.
Brazil's government has published legal guidelines insisting that a caipirinha must be made just so: It's mostly the sugarcane liquor called cachaca. And you can add at least 1 percent crushed lime. But that had better be real sugar in the glass.
The Agriculture Ministry rules published in Friday's official gazette are meant to set "standards of identity and quality" for the drink.
The ministry has failed to say what punishment awaits those responsible for illicit caipirinhas.
This, of course, should not be confused with the real necessity of having laws around the definition of "cachaça".
Update: Adam Lee of Eyes On Brazil got a hold of the actual published rules (in Portuguese).
I guess now that with all the street robbery, corruption and narcotics successfully dealt with in Brasil, the law people are getting on with the important stuff.
Posted by: anthony | November 06, 2008 at 02:48 PM