Caipirinha facts for kids
| IBA official cocktail | |
|---|---|
Caipirinha
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| Type | Cocktail |
| Primary alcohol by volume | |
| Served | On the rocks; poured over ice |
| Standard garnish | sugarcane, lime (ingredient) |
| Standard drinkware |
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| IBA specified ingredients  |
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| Preparation | Place lime and sugar into a double old fashioned glass and muddle gently. Fill the glass with cracked ice and add Cachaça. Stir gently to involve ingredients. |
| Notes | Caipiroska – instead of cachaça use vodka |
| Caipirinha recipe at International Bartenders Association |
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The Caipirinha (pronounced kai-pee-REEN-yah) is Brazil's national cocktail. It's a very popular drink made with cachaça, which is a strong alcohol from sugarcane. It also includes sugar and fresh lime.
To make a Caipirinha, you first mix the lime and sugar together. Then, you add the cachaça. People often make it in a large glass to share, or in a bigger jar to serve in separate glasses.
Contents
History of the Caipirinha
The exact beginning of the Caipirinha is a bit of a mystery. One story says it started around 1918 in Portugal. People made a drink with lemon, garlic, and honey. This was thought to help people who were sick with a bad flu.
Another idea is that the Caipirinha came from a Portuguese drink called Poncha. This drink is from the Madeira Islands in Portugal. Its main ingredient is aguardente de cana, which is also made from sugarcane. The Portuguese started growing a lot of sugarcane in Brazil because they needed more land. Before this, people in Madeira had already created aguardente de cana, which was like an early version of cachaça.
Some historians believe the Caipirinha was invented by farmers in the State of São Paulo, Brazil. This happened in the 1800s. It was a special drink for important events and parties. This area had a lot of sugarcane farms.
The first Caipirinha recipes used a small, yellow-green lemon called "galeguinho." This lemon was common in backyards in the countryside of São Paulo. Today, people usually make it with a larger green lemon called Tahiti lemon. This type of lemon is easier to find in stores across Brazil.
The Caipirinha is now the most famous national drink in Brazil. You can find it in restaurants, bars, and many homes. For a long time, it was mostly unknown outside Brazil. But recently, it has become much more popular around the world. This is partly because good quality cachaça is now easier to find in other countries. The International Bartenders Association (IBA) has even named it one of its official cocktails.
What Does "Caipirinha" Mean?
The word caipirinha is a smaller, cuter version of the word caipira. In Brazilian Portuguese, caipira means someone who lives in the countryside. It's a bit like saying "country folk" or "hillbilly" in English. The word caipirinha usually refers to the drink, and it's a feminine word.
Different Kinds of Caipirinha
While the original Caipirinha is made only with lime, people often use the name for other fruit drinks too. These drinks are made with cachaça and different fruit juices. For example, you might hear of a passionfruit caipirinha or a strawberry caipirinha.
A very popular drink in Brazil is called Caipifruta. This is a Caipirinha made with cachaça, fresh crushed fruits, and crushed ice. You can use one fruit or mix different ones. Some popular fruits for Caipifrutas include tangerine, lime, kiwifruit, passion fruit, pineapple, lemon, grapes, mango, cajá (a Brazilian fruit), and caju (the cashew fruit).
Other Drinks Like Caipirinha
There are many drinks that are similar to Caipirinha, but they use different types of alcohol instead of cachaça. Here are a few examples:
- Caipiroska is a common alternative. It's made with vodka instead of cachaça.
- Sakerinha is a version made with sake, which is a Japanese rice wine.
- Caipinheger uses a German spirit called Steinhäger.
- Caipirão is a Portuguese version. It uses a sweet Portuguese liquor called Licor Beirão, so no extra sugar is needed.
- A version from Italy uses Campari instead of cachaça.
- Caipirissima is made with rum.
See also
In Spanish: Caipiriña para niños
