Caipirinha

Making Caipirinha

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1. Roll the lime firmly on the worktop under your palm to loosen the juice.

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2. Cut off both ends, stand it up, and cut it into quarters lengthways. Cut away the white core from each quarter — it is the bitter part.

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3. Put the lime pieces in a heavy tumbler and add the sugar.

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4. Muddle with a press and a twist, six or seven times, just until the sugar dissolves in the juice and the peels have released their oil. Do not pound it.

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5. Fill the glass to the top with crushed ice.

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6. Pour the cachaça over.

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7. Stir hard with a bar spoon for 15 seconds, lifting from the bottom, until the outside of the glass frosts.

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8. Top with a little more crushed ice and serve with a short straw.

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Small Things That Help

• Cut out the white core. It is where the bitterness lives.
• Press and twist, do not pound. Six or seven presses is enough.
• Crushed ice, not cubes. It dilutes at the right speed for this drink.

Changing the Recipe

• Lemon is the everyday swap for lime in this kind of dish — the acidity plays the same role even though the flavour is not identical.

What Goes With Caipirinha

• Coxinha or pão de queijo
• Grilled meat
• Salted cashews

Storing & Reheating Caipirinha

Make to order. Nothing about a caipirinha keeps.

Caipirinha Nutrition

No nutrition figures are given for this recipe: they cannot be worked out reliably from its ingredient list (some ingredient lines cannot be read). Why some recipes have none.