BRAZILIAN COCKTAIL WEEK 2020
From Saturday, 24 October to Saturday, 31 October 2020
TO ALL COCKTAIL LOVERS!
BBMag, your Anglo-Brazilian publication in London, and the London Caipirinha Festival, which the festival in bars and restaurants has been postponed to 2021 due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, have found the perfect way to chase the lockdown blues away with a selection of Brazilian caipirinhas and cocktails for you to explore, make and taste in your own home.
As from Saturday, 24 October for one week until Saturday 31 October 2020, BBMag and the London Caipirinha Festival will be presenting you daily with some delicious caipirinha and Brazilian cocktail recipes across seven days.
To participate, post your favourite Brazilian caipirinha or cocktail recipe, photos or videos on your social media using #BrazilianCocktailWeekUK, – join us let’s have fun!
Let’s get you ready and start with “Caipirinha – a crash course.”
When Jimmy Buffet declared “if life gives you limes then make margaritas”, chances are he was yet to discover the caipirinha!
It’s common to see the caipirinha pigeonholed with its other LATAM muckers, the margarita and the daiquiri, but the caipirinha is more than just a cocktail – it’s a national treasure. Greens and yellows mirror the country’s epic landscapes whilst it’s the hand-crafted balance of sweet and sour hint to a culture bursting with diversity and heritage. It is Brazil in a glass; once you get a taste, you just want more.
The drink itself couldn’t be simpler. There are several variations on a theme and preparation, but a traditional caipirinha is made by taking a whole cut lime and muddling it with a heaped tablespoon of sugar (preferably using a wooden pestle – but any wooden spoon will suffice).
The trick is to squeeze as much juice from the lime without damaging the peel, which in turn would release a bitter aftertaste. For the most authentic results, you should use freshly sliced lime and sugar. Throw in the ice and cachaça and mix well. It often pays to use a cocktail shaker to ensure that the ingredients mingle as much as possible.
The Caipirinha has several versions, changing the lime by strawberry, pineapple, kiwi, lychee, and passion fruit amongst other fruits or mixing all the fruits. You can also change the distillate (cachaça), but in this case, it will no longer be a Caipirinha. When the distillate is changed it gets other names: if Vodka is used, it is Caipiroska and if it is Rum, it is called Caipiríssima, and prepared with Sake it is called Saquêrinha.
Now you can make one, how about ordering one? Unlike its Latin American brethren, the caipirinha was coined in Portuguese, not Spanish. Most punters are still looking for the “h” in Mojito, so any trepidation as you approach the bar is to be expected given the pronunciation pitfalls of Brazilian Portuguese. Here goes – Kai-peer- REEN-ya. Strictly speaking, there are four distinct syllables, but the phonetic license of the local lingo allows for a more stretched intonation. Worry not; it gets easy after the first one.
You can find more information about cachaça, caipirinhas and Brazilian cocktails by visiting the websites below:
www.LondonCaipirinhaFestival.co.uk
WHICH IS YOUR FAVOURITE? GET INVOLVED, HAVE FUN, DRINK RESPONSIBLY!
#BrazilianCocktailWeekUK #caipirinha #bbmaguk #Cocktails #BrazilianCocktails #LondonCaipirinhaFestival #LondonCaipFest #Cachaca #Brazil
