Caipirinha/Caprihinia, What everyone else in the world is drinking this summer.

The fun of traveling to Europe is always experiencing fun new things: archaeological ruins, great food, and ... new cocktails! If you want to know what the rage is for the rest of the world, go to a bar in delightful Spain. This Spring, the drink taking the Europeans by leaps and bounds is the Caipirinha/Caprihinia (kay-pree-heen-yah).

Already extremely popular in South America and in the Caribbean islands, it's made from a cane liquor from Brazil similar to dark rum called "Cachaca". This drink is very similar to our already favorite friend - The Mojito - from Cuba, but without the mint.

By the way, caipirinha in Portuguese literally translates to a country person or "hillbilly" but don't assume this is moonshine, it's the national drink of Brazil and while deceptively simple, you have to be ready when you order one of these (or several) they are as strong or stronger than most other cocktails (ah, those wacky Brazilians!).

The AlwaysHappyHour.com version of The Caipirinha
For EACH drink place into a cocktail shaker, preferable a see-thru 'Boston' shaker or other clear shaker so your guests can enjoy the process.

• 1/2 a fresh lime squeezed, then drop those squeezed lime wedges into the shaker
  
• 1 tablespoon or more of table sugar or better yet bar sugar (start with one and increase to taste as needed later, don't skip the sugar, it's important to the taste. You can substitute Splenda, but Equal and SweetNLow don't seem to work at all)

Crush these two ingredients in the bottom of the shaker using a wooden or stainless steel muddler (see picture) to release the lime essence into the sugar

• add 1 or 2 shots (per drink) of half dark rum and half silver tequila (or Brazilian Cachaca, if you can find it!) and ice

Cover shaker and shake vigorously and dramatically in front of your guests

• pour into tall Tom Collins glass, large rocks glass, or better yet one of several Mojito glasses or sets available from AlwaysHappyHour.com
• Do NOT strain the mixture from the shaker, allow the crushed limes to go into the serving glass along with the muddled liquid, that's part of the look and taste!
• Add ice to just below the top of each glass as needed
• Fill the rest of the drink with sparking water, seltzer, club soda, or 7UP and stir gently with a long bar spoon or cocktail mixing stick
• Garnish with a fresh lime wedge on the top edge of the glass and serve with a tall drinking straw

When making Caprihinia's for a group (or yourself) in a pitcher or perhaps our 1/2 gallon King Kong Shaker or stainless steel 1/2 gallon Party Mega Shakers, here are few tricks for crowd-size Caprihinias:

1. Use frozen lime-ade and/or bottled lime juice instead of squeezing all those limes,
2. use a food processor to COARSELY chop the limes in bulk,
   
3. use 7UP or other lemon-lime soda instead of the sparkling water and table sugar
4. Substitute the limes for your choice of any crushed fresh fruit (tangerine, grapefruit, kiwi, passion fruit, pineapple, berries, grapes, mango,) and the name changes from Caipirinha to Caipifrutas. yummmmmmm.
   

If you think this might sound good with vodka, you're right! The name changes from a Caipirinha to a "Caipiroska."

Enjoy!!!!