Friday Happy Hour: Cocktail for Carnival!

by Nicole Weston, Posted Feb 16th 2007 @ 5:05PM

Not headed down to Rio de Janeiro for Carnival this year? No worries - you can still have a little taste of the Brazilian festival at home with the Caipirissima cocktail. The drink is a simple, but delicious, combination of rum, lime juice and sugar. It is a take on a cocktail called the Caipirinha, which is sometimes referred to as the national drink of Brazil and is made with a liquor called Cachaça, which is distilled from pure cane syrup.

Cachaça is just finding its way around the US and is not as easily accessible as it eventually might be, given the increasing popularity of Brazilian drinks, so the rum alternative makes getting the flavors of Brazil into your glass much easier for the time being. Use white rum, for a lighter flavor and a cleaner looking drink. You'll also need a muddle to get the full flavors out of the lime.

The recipe, after the jump, gives directions for making a martini-like cocktail, but you can simply muddle the lime and sugar at the bottom of a regular glass, top with ice, rum and lime juice, and drink it that way, too.

Caipirissima
4 lime wedges, freshly cut
1 1/2 ounces Oronoco Rum (or other white rum)
Splash of fresh-squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon refined sugar
Crushed ice

Muddle lime wedges in a shaker. Add rum, lime juice, sugar and shake vigorously with ice. Strain contents into a chilled martini glass and garnish with lime wedge.

Filed Under: Happy Hour, Drink Recipes
Tags: brazil, Caipirissima, Carnival, Cocktail, Cocktail for Carnival, CocktailForCarnival, cocktails, rum, south america