How to properly drink caipirinha
The most famous cocktail in Brazil is of course the caipirinha. Here, the fruit, including the peel, is crushed with sugar and remains whole in the glass. And don’t be surprised: there are a number of myths surrounding the drink that do not correspond to reality. In Brazil, for example, white, refined sugar is used (not the brown one!), because the taste of the sugar cane liquor is not lost. With the TRAVELBOOK recipe, your caipirinha is guaranteed to be a hit at the next cocktail night.
In Brazil, sugar is made from sugar cane, which you can’t find on every corner here, but just plain sugar from the supermarket will do – there’s practically no difference in taste to the Brazilian version. You don’t have to bother with the ice either, you don’t have to bother with crushing it: In Brazil, ice cubes often just float in the caipi.
Although the Caipi is available at every beach bar in Brazil, people have been asking for a while whether it should be a Caipirinha or a Caipiroska. With the latter, vodka is simply put in the cup instead of cachaça. The maipirinha is also very popular – then passion fruit is used instead of lime.
Homemade caipirinha – the recipe
The national drink of Brazil is quite easy to make. Rule of thumb for ingredients: lots of everything! A real caipirinha has to be strong.
The ingredients:
1 lime
2 – 3 heaped tbsp sugar
4 cl cachaça (the traditional sugar cane liquor)
crushed ice
The preparation:
First wash the lime, cut off the ends, cut in half, remove the white stalk and then quarter. Then mash together with the sugar in the glass for about 1 minute. Then fill the glass with crushed ice – pure cachaça. If there isn’t enough liquid in it, “stretch” it with schnapps rather than water, or wait until some of the ice melts. Add sugar if necessary. Stir and done!
With the recipe for the non-alcoholic version, the so-called “Virgin Caipirinha”, you can simply replace the liquor with ginger ale.
7 cocktails with cosmopolitan flair to mix yourself
There are hundreds of types of cocktails around the world, and for many, vacationing includes ordering a nice drink and relaxing on the beach or in a city bar. Many cocktails are named after certain cities or were invented there. Weekend.com , the booking app for weekend trips, has put together seven delicious drink specialties from all over the world, including a list of ingredients and a recipe, with which you can easily mix your favorite metropolis at home.
Singapore Sling
Fruity, sweet and a little bit exotic: The Singapore Sling is considered a classic in bars all over the world, it also serves as the signature drink of the famous Raffles Hotel in Singapore. The cocktail has been delighting long drink fans for more than 100 years with its intense freshness. If you don’t know it yet: It’s worth trying!
The intense red color is typical of the Singapore Sling
Ingredients:
- 3cl gin
- 1.5cl cherry brandy
- 0.75 cl Cointreau
- 0.75 cl DOM Benedictine
- 1 cl grenadine
- 12 cl pineapple juice
- 1.5 cl fresh lime juice
- 1 small dash of Angostura bitters
Preparation:
Pour all the ingredients into the cocktail shaker one after the other and then mix until a light foam forms. Pour the mixture from the shaker into the glass, leaving a light head of foam on the cocktail. Serve with a slice of pineapple and a cocktail cherry.
Long Island Iced Tea
The Long Island Iced Tea, named after the New York district of the same name, is a particularly strong cocktail that dates back to the prohibition era in America . Back then, smugglers used Long Island Iced Tea, which looks like ordinary iced tea because of its name and appearance, as a disguise for the alcohol it contained. Nowadays, the cocktail should not be missing in any bar and is considered a real classic.
- 2cl rum
- 2 cl vodka
- 2 cl tequila
- 2 cl orange liqueur
- 2 cl lime juice
- 2 cl sugar syrup
- ¼L Coca-Cola
- ice cubes
Preparation:
Put all the ingredients except the Coca-Cola in a cocktail shaker with about three to five ice cubes and shake vigorously. To do this, hold the cocktail shaker with both hands between the body and the lid so that the shaker does not open when mixing. Strain the Long Island Ice Tea into four highball glasses and fill up with Coca-Cola.
Parisien
The Parisienne is a French classic with which everyone can bring the city of love home. The mixture of black currant, gin and vermouth provides an elegant flair on the balcony at home.
Ingredients:
- 1 cl crème de cassis
- 2cl gin
- 2cl vermouth dry
- ice cubes
Preparation:
Pour the crème de cassis into the pre-chilled cocktail glass. Mix the cold gin and the dry vermouth with ice cubes in a mixing glass and then carefully pour it over the edge of the glass without ice. The cassis liqueur should not mix with the other ingredients.
Munich Mule
The Munich Mule is the alternative to the classic and much better known Moscow Mule, and instead of vodka, gin forms the basis of this long drink. In bartender circles, the Munich Mule is assigned to the highball category. Experts understand this to mean cocktails that consist of a spirit and a larger quantity of a non-alcoholic mixed drink. In the case of the Munich Mule, it’s ginger lemonade, which, together with the gin and a decorative cucumber, makes for a real cocktail highlight.
Ingredients:
- 50ml gin
- ½ lime, juice from it
- 150ml ginger beer
- ¼ organic cucumber
- 5 ice cubes
Preparation:
Fill the long drink glass with ice cubes. Squeeze half a lime directly into the long drink glass, add gin, fill up with ginger beer, stir briefly. Use a vegetable peeler to create elongated strips of cucumber and arrange them decoratively in the drink.
Acapulco Dream
Despite its lightness, this long drink with its fruity-exotic note should not be underestimated when it comes to its alcohol content: the mixture of brown rum and tequila, combined with fruit juices, ensures a good rotation in the glass.
Ingredients:
- 3cl tequila
- 1 cl brown rum
- 10 cl pineapple juice
- 4 cl grapefruit juice
- 1 slice of pineapple
Preparation:
Mix and shake all ingredients and then strain into a highball glass with ice cubes. The pineapple is placed on the edge.
Berliner Weisse
The Berliner Weisse is not a cocktail in the classic sense – but the drink, also known as the “champagne of the north”, has earned its place in this list. The light, top-fermented draft beer has a long tradition in Berlin. Only drinks that come from breweries in Berlin and the surrounding area may be adorned with the Berliner Weisse name. Whether pure or with a little raspberry or woodruff syrup – the specialty is an ideal thirst quencher on hot days.
Ingredients:
- Berliner Weisse
- Choice of 2 cl raspberry or woodruff syrup
Osaka Dry
The third largest city in Japan is known for a very special drink: the Osaka Dry. The cocktail is based on vodka – it also contains two typical Japanese specialties, rice wine sake and sweet pickled plums.
Ingredients:
- 60 ml vodka
- 15ml sake
- Pickled plums
- ice cubes
Preparation:
Pour the vodka, sake and ice cubes into a shaker. Shake well and then strain into a martini glass. Serve with the preserved plums.
