Caipirinha

You may have already figured this out, but I love me some cocktails. And I love trying new cocktails. And I LOVE trying to make new cocktails (even if they aren't "new" to me) at home. So this past weekend I tried out a few. keith found this amazing grilling/bbq book while we were out meeting up with some new friends (the lesbians that live on a house boat...how cool is that?). The first section in the book is dedicated to a few cocktails. Fantastic. Purchase justified.

I've had many Caipirinhas over the years, and they've always been pretty good. However I think every single one I've ever had was made with white rum - this recipe called for Cachaca, a white rum made from the sugar cane. It's something I've never had before, so off to the liquor store I went (I'm making friends there already!). I was immediately blown away by the smell from the Cachaca. It has a slightly fermented smell - like you can smell the fermentation of the natural sugar cane. That smell really hit me, and enticed me all at the same time. And the cachaca is the only liquor in this delicious drink, so if the smell (believe me, there's something exotic and weird about it but the flavor and the smell combined are outstanding) bothers you, use rum.

There's some muscle work required to make this drink, but it's worth it. The pounding of the limes was a nice bit of aerobic exercise late in the day (I don't mind a good workout in the kitchen from time to time). And while the recipe calls for Turbinado sugar (a brown, raw sugar), you can use regular granulated. However the extra work it takes to make the turbinado dissolve is completely worth it - I love the flavor so much more than white granulated sugar. So in other words, just use the damn ingredients I'm telling you to use. :) Bossy, ain't I?

Caipirinha
8 large, juicy limes, cut into 8 pieces
1 1/2 Cup tubinado sugar
2 Cup Cachaca

Add the cut up lime pieces and the sugar to a sturdy pitcher (the original recipe called for 1 cup sugar and then suggested adding to find your own balance...my balance came out at 1 1/2 cups). Using a muddler or some other long, blunt-ended device, smash the crap out of the lime to remove as much juice as you can. At the same time this will help dissolve the sugar. If you plan on serving this out of a different pitcher, pour the entire contents into your new pitcher (the crystal pitcher doesn't hold up well to muddling) - limes and all. Add the cachaca and stir until all of the sugar is dissolved. Add more as necessary for your taste. Pour over ice and enjoy.