Kaiser Penguin Reviews Boca Loca, Invents "Solid Cachaça"

Rick "Kaiser Penguin" Stutz appears to be on parallel tracks with my best friend Richard and me with regard to Boca Loca. (This brand, you might remember, got three-and-a-half barrels in my review and took a strong second place in a blind tasting administered by my wife.)

Perhaps echoing our own evaluation:

I can’t get over it. This stuff smells so damn good. Boca Loca Cachaça’s aroma is earthy and vegetal with loads of caramel. A tip to the tongue reveals not a firey spirit, but one smooth and extremely drinkable. I’m almost a little disappointed at this, wishing that more of Boca Loca’s funky aromas came through when imbibed, but not that disappointed, as I can’t stop picking up my glass to take sip after sip.

Indicating a frustration with the overuse of muddling as a preparation technique, Rick put cachaça, grapefruit bitters, and pectin together to create "solid cachaça".

Bitter Grapefruit Cachaça Cubes

• 2oz cachaça
• 1 dash grapefruit bitters
• 1t pectin

Mix all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer for one minute. Pour into a small ramekin or any dish where you can get the liquid about 1/4″ high. Chill in the refrigerator for an hour or so until it gels. If you want to speed up the process, chill the ramekin in a ice-water bath, pop it in the freezer for 10 minutes, and then in the refrigerator until you’re ready to make the drink. When solid, cut around the edges of the dish and plop the solid gelatinous block onto a counter. Cut into 1/4″ cubes. This recipe makes about 2T of cubes, enough for two drinks.

Far from being just a kind of "jello shot", Rick's creation figures into this muddle-free recipe:

Patriarch of the Forest

• 2oz Boca Loca Cachaça
• 1/2oz Licor 43
• 1oz grapefruit juice
• 1/2oz lime juice
• 1/2oz vanilla syrup
• 1/2oz cinnamon syrup
• 1T bitter grapefruit cachaça cubes
• grapefruit peel and vanilla beans, for garnish

Shake all but the cubes with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail vessel, preferably one carved by hand out of a jequitibá tree. [He explains why in his post.] Top with the cubes. They will float. Garnish with whimsical fancy.

Comments

[geeks]

Interesting,

Nice Patriarch of the Forest recipe,

Thanks for bringing this up