Cocktail Recipe: The Lemongrass Caipirinha

From the most excellent Ceramic Canvas blog, here's a batch recipe for Cachaçagora readers to check out: the lemongrass caipirinha.

The secret weapon here:

Instead of mashing the lemongrass to release its flavor into the drink I though it would be more flavorful to use a lemongrass simple syrup.

Here it is. Be sure to check out the post for the pictures:

Lemongrass Caipirinha

• 1 cup lemongrass, cut into 1″ dices
• 3 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 cups cachaça
• 9 limes, cut into eights

In a medium sized, heavy bottom sauce pan over medium-high heat, bring the lemongrass and 3 sups of water to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover with a tight lid and let lemongrass steep for 30 minutes.

Strain liquid and discard the lemongrass. You should have about 2 cups of liquid. Pour lemongrass back into sauce pan and pour in sugar. Heat liquid enough to completely dissolve the sugar. Set syrup aside until it is room temperature. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate.

Blend cold lemongrass syrup and cachaça in one pitcher.

To serve, place 4 pieces of a quartered lime in the bottom of the glass. Using a muddle or the back of a wooden spoon crush the limes to release their juice. Pour in about ½ cup of the syrup/cachaça mix. Add finely crushed ice. And top off drink with club soda (to taste, in order to adjust the sweetness of the drink).

Comments

[AlchemistGeorge]

Thanks for the recipe - its always great to have more ideas for flavorings and syrups! And nice photos, its not rocket science but the photos make it clear how what lemongrass looks like and how much one needs to buy.