I can’t believe it’s taken me over two years to post a caipirinha on the site. In fact, I haven’t posted a single cachaça cocktail . . . not even during the World Cup last summer!! I know, it makes no sense. Perhaps, subconsciously, I’m still recovering from the hundreds upon thousands of caipirinhas I made during my first stint behind the bar. It was a tapas-style restaurant in Berkeley’s “gourmet ghetto”. The neighborhood was, and still is, a bustling food scene – Chez Panisse, Cheeseboard, and the original Peet’s Coffee are all within a one-block radius of each other. Like many restaurants back then, we took pride in our mojitos. However, the most popular cocktail on the menu was undoubtedly our caipirinhas. Cachaça was hard to find back then, and I think it intrigued people. With several Brazilian dishes on our menu, it was the perfect fit. Not to mention, a good way for us bartenders to get a serious arm workout. I forget how I stumbled upon the kiwi and caipirinha combo, but I’ve been making it for years. Something about that tart kiwi flavor goes perfect with cachaça. For this recipe I used both green and gold kiwis, the later being sweeter and more aromatic. Thanks for letting me reminisce a bit. I promise there will be more cachaça cocktails to come!!
KIWI CAIPIRINHA
Ingredients:
- 2 oz cachaça
- 1/2 lime (quartered)
- 2 barspoons fine granulated sugar
- 1/2 green + 1/2 gold kiwi (peeled and quartered) OR 1 whole green kiwi if gold variety cannot be found.
- lime wedge for garnish
Directions:
- In the bottom of a shaker, muddle the lime and sugar to release juice and oils.
- Top with kiwi and cachaça.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake quickly for 5 seconds.
- Pour the entire contents of the shaker into a rocks glass.
- Garnish with lime wedge and serve.
(images by HonestlyYUM)
Such a beautiful drink! One of these would be perfect right about now!
Beyond gorgeous, I have a feeling one (or two!) of these would go down way too easy ;).
you should consider a profession in citrus art ! these limes are out of this world … and this cocktail looks deliciously refreshing.
I just happened to have kiwis and cachaca sitting around so I made these last night. Soooooo GOOD! And easy! I loved that I could muddle the sugar in rather than the extra step of making a simple syrup.
Can we talk about how you did that lime garnish?! Love it!
SERIOUSLY, WOW. This whole post is just everything. You’re amazing. And that lime is crazy awesome.
seriously, everything about this is so good! beautiful photography,too!
Hi Todd! I can’t believe I haven’t been on your site before – your work is gorgeous. I probably stared, captivated, at the photos on this post for a good 5 minutes straight. And then I read your lovely post. I’m glad Alanna and Sarah introduced me to your blog. These look so good. I didn’t like kiwis that much but then I took a trip to New Zealand, where kiwis (of all sorts) abound. I’m hooked. This drink looks like a good way to start using kiwis more frequently in my life :).
Loooove the kiwi here. Its nice to have something sweet to take the edge of the cachaca.
One of my favorite caipirinhas I’ve ever had is actually a muddled basil and green grapes caipirinha…which we got at the Outback Steakhouse (yup the bloomin’ onion kind of Outback) in a mall in Sao Paulo. Don’t judge when I was a kid, Outback was kind of fancy in Brazil. You should see how nice the Burger Kings there are too.
DAMN TODD. That looks bomb. Lovely lime too btw.
EVERYTHING about this is so stunning!!!!