Cachaçagora - Cachaça, Caipirinha, And Cocktails

Most Awesome Cachaça Collection I've Yet Seen In North America

I found this treasure trove today at Sam's Wine & Spirits in Chicago's South Loop.

Here, you can see Cachaça 61 (ten better than Cachaça 51, I guess?), Ypióca Ouro and Crystal, Leblon, Rio D, Água Luca, and both varieties — bálsamo and jequitibá rosa — of the absolutely sublime Aroma Brasil. 

The reason why you can only see the bálsamo Aroma Brasil there is because I bought the last jequitibá rosa. The bálsamo was on sale for $19.99, so I grabbed that too. (It's just as good, if not better, than the five-barrel-awarded jequitibá rosa.)

Also took home the Água Luca.

Now that my travel is going to stick to this continent for the foreseeable future, you'll see more results from the tasting lab.

Cachaça 51 TV Ad

My wife tells me that this video features some famous soap opera stars.

Shanghai, Hong Kong, Sydney

I'm on the road on business, right in the middle of the second of four trips into the Asia/Pacific region. So far, only one caipirinha has been obtained on this trip and it was here in Hong Kong. (Made from Cachaça 51. Evidently, the bartender thought that using half the sugar stashed behind his bar was Uma Boa Idéia.)

Catching up on my cachaça news, I noticed that A Mountain Of Crushed ice took on one of my favorite topics, the difference between cachaça and rhum agricole.

Two recipes piqued my interest. The first comes from, of all places, Women's Wear Daily:

’Tis the season to raise a glass—and after the year we’ve had, goodness knows we could use a tall one. WWDScoop gathered cocktail recipes from expert hostesses around the globe and asked “The Liquid Chef,” Junior Merino, head mixologist at Rayuela in New York, to offer his take on each.

Caipirinha aux Fruits Rouges

• 4 shots of Cachaça (Cabana Cachaça is recommended)
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Handful of strawberries, chopped, stems removed
• 1/2 mango, peeled, pitted and chopped
• 2 kiwi, peeled and chopped
• 1 mandarin orange, peeled and chopped

THE LIQUID CHEF SAYS: “You don’t want to overpower the drink with fruits.” He suggests omitting the mandarin, because of its distinctive taste.

WWD didn't include preparation instructions, unfortunately, but I'm sure the name gives some hint.

Meanwhile, the Alcoholian offers the "Dark & Stormy":

Dark & Stormy

• 1.5 oz cachaça
• 1 oz of lime juice simple syrup
• 5 oz of ginger beer

To make some lime juice simple syrup, juice a few limes, strain out the pulp, put the remaining juice in a small pan, and add a few tablespoons of sugar (just short of a 50-50 blend of lime juice and sugar). Eyeball it, you’ll be close enough. Once you drink one, you won’t care anyway. As the lime juice heats up, it gets a little cloudy as the sugar dissolves. Then suddenly, it is clear again. Turn off the heat and let it cool. This stuff keeps in the fridge nearly forever, so make a lot so you will have some handy.

Now just add a few ice cubes to your martini shaker, drop in the cachaça and your lime juice mixture and shake it till your nose bleeds or your teeth come loose, whichever happens sooner. Pour this in a glass and top with your ginger beer (or ginger ale — ginger beer is way better though).

Finally, I leave you with an Ypióca commercial that apparently ran in Greece:

Stay tuned.