Cocktail Recipe: Basil Caipirinha

May 31, 2010

Cocktail Recipe: Basil Caipirinha

The Houston Press absolutely has the right idea. (And they probably need to cool off a lot more than I do in breezy California.)

The weather is hot. It's a holiday weekend. We all need a drink, we need it soon -- and by soon, we mean now. As much as we love mojitos, margaritas, and piña coladas, we're dying to try something new. After an intense brainstorming and tasting session with our bartender friends and fellow lushes, we've concocted a deliciously refreshing cocktail that melds together sweet, savory and tart flavors and will keep your tastebuds delighted and your brain warm and fuzzy.

Here's the recipe they came up with. There's a finger's worth of Cachaça Seculo in dad's liquor cabinet. Alas, no basil handy.

Basil Caipirinha

1 1/2 ounce cachaça

A handful of freshly torn basil leaves

2 teaspoons fine sugar

1 lime cut into 4 wedges

Sparkling water

Muddle together the cachaça, basil, lime and sugar. Top with sparkling water. Garnish with a lime wedge and a basil leaf. This recipe makes one drink, so multiply accordingly.

Personally, I love thai basil for its sweetness and anise-like characteristics. Other basil-using caipirinhas covered here include cinnamon-basil and pepper basil variations.

Posted by Phil Gomes on May 31, 2010 at 07:15 PM in Caipirinha, Cocktails | Permalink

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About Cachaçagora

Hi. My name is Phil Gomes. By day, I work at a public relations firm as its senior vice president of digital integration. I'm a proud SF East Bay native who currently lives in Chicago.
I was introduced to cachaça by my wife, a Carioca. Her mom, in turn, is the president of the Confraria de Cachaça do Copo Furado, a group that meets monthly to talk about Brazil's indigenous spirit. I participated in one of their meetings when I vacationed in Rio in July 2008.
This started me thinking about the basic question of whether cachaça in the U.S. is today where, say, tequila was some decades ago.
So I decided to start this blog as a means to record and share the cachaça-related items I've been seeing day-to-day. I hope to be sharing recipes, impressions, and random thoughts as the U.S. continues to catch on to the potential for this particular spirit.
Oh... The name? "Cachaçagora" is a portmanteau of "Cachaça" and "agora", which is the Portuguese word for "now". In Greek, "agora" also means public square. I hope to meet the expectations of both.
Saúde!
cachacagora~~ at~~ gmail~~ dot~~ com

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Cachaçagora - Cachaça, Caipirinha, And Cocktails

Quite possibly the best English-language blog about cachaça, the national distilled spirit of Brazil.

May 31, 2010