What's that liquor in my caipirinha?

June 21, 2006

Carnival in the Liquor Cabinet

By FLORENCE FABRICANT/New York Times

JUST as a margarita is often an introduction to tequila, for most Americans the first taste of cacha莽a, the national spirit of Brazil, is likely to be in a caipirinha, a cocktail made by muddling lime wedges with sugar, then adding cacha莽a and ice.

';Americans might know the caipirinha but until recently they probably did not know what spirit it was made with,'; said Matti Anttila, a New York investment banker turned cacha莽a entrepreneur.

Mr. Anttila is not the only one to see opportunity in cacha莽a (pronounced ka-CHA-sa), which is made from fermented sugar cane juice. Several companies are working with distillers in Brazil to develop brands specifically for export to the United States.

Until a year or so ago, most American bars and restaurants carried only one brand, if that, of cacha莽a. But increased interest in Latin American food and drink has changed that.

Mr. Anttila%26#39;s company produces the Cabana brand. It and two other high-end brands, Leblon and 脕gua Luca, have a palate-pleasing viscosity, a mildly floral aroma and a hint of honey or earthiness in their flavor. They are also more expensive, and come in prettier bottles than lower-end, harsher cacha莽as like Pit煤. Pit煤, a best-selling brand in Brazil, was one of the first to be exported to the United States.

';Even though Americans don%26#39;t drink cacha莽a straight, they%26#39;re used to smoother spirits,'; said James Tramonte, a partner in 脕gua Luca. ';We worked with an established Brazilian distiller to reformulate the brand.';

Like some other new brands, 脕gua Luca, made near S茫o Paulo, is not sold in Brazil. Beleza Pura, another fairly new top-of-the-line brand, is sold in Brazil as well as in the United States.

Brazilians are accustomed to mixing their caipirinhas with cheap, harsh cacha莽as, saving the good stuff, often aged in wood, for sipping straight.

';There is a serious world of cacha莽a in Brazil, but for caipirinhas they use junk,'; said Cipa Dichter, the pianist, a native of Brazil. ';I can%26#39;t get really good cacha莽a here so I just drink caipirinhas.';

On the cocktail carts that rove around Brazilian restaurants in Manhattan, like the Churrascaria Plataformas and Porc茫o, there are displays of assorted cacha莽as; Churrascaria Plataforma has a list of more than two dozen.

Jo茫o De Matos, the owner of the Plataforma restaurants, said that for sipping straight, Brazilian customers will opt for brands like Rochinha and GRM, which have been aged in wood anywhere from 2 to 12 years. He said that, unlike Brazilians, Americans tend to select the new cacha莽as like 脕gua Luca even in mixed drinks, including fruit-based batidas and cacha莽a martinis.

Cacha莽as are usually distilled in copper pot stills like Cognac, though some are made in column stills, like most rums. The new cacha莽as for export get special treatment. They may be double-distilled for purity and finesse like Cabana, which is the most neutral-tasting of the new brands, or given special filtration for smoothness, like 脕gua Luca. Leblon is shipped in bulk to France for brief aging in Cognac casks, giving it hints of vanilla, honey and spice.

The new top-of-the-line cacha莽as cost $25 to $40 a bottle; the lesser brands are $11 to $15. To mix a cocktail with one of the high-end cacha莽as may seem frivolous, but how else will your caipirinha have cachet?

What's that liquor in my caipirinha?

I just discovered caipirinha%26#39;s recently and our liquor store had NO cane rum...so they sold us something else I had never heard of, called Anejo Rum...very odd taste, wouldn%26#39;t run out and get another bottle. But sort of works in the caipirinha%26#39;s...and just plain old rum works just fine, too :)

What's that liquor in my caipirinha?

We got introduced on our trip to Brazil - so I picked up x2 bottles to take back to Minnesota for a few bucks each.

Lol..I took my friend to Piola on friday for his first caipirnha.

I tried to warn him that 4 was a bad idea...really I did.

Hi LTT

I%26#39;m glad it wasn%26#39;t just me...I bought a bottle of Pitu (in effort to make a true caipirinha...it was the only brand available in the store), mixed up the proper ratio and...it was horrible! - truly undrinkable (long ago, a co-worker visited Brazil %26amp; brought me a wonderful bottle - def. a better producer, but I didn%26#39;t jot down it%26#39;s name). If Cacha莽a isn%26#39;t available, vodka makes a decent substitute - for a caipiroska (kid you not, just google it!) Thanks for posting this, now I know what to look out for.

Lol...ok! So when I originally read this article, the cynical New Yorker in me immediately balked ';Great! So now they%26#39;re gonna start serving, Cachaca and Rose%26#39;s and calling it a Caipirinha.'; Sparing the forum my snark, I just kept it to myself.

Fast forward to Saturday Night when I ended up at some East Village hipster bar with a few friends. I will give you 3 guesses as to what was served to me as a ';Caipirinha';. In defense of the bar, he did mash up a lime or two from the condiment tray for some authenticity.

Caipirinha%26#39;s! First had one in Mexico believe it or not. They are served in a Brazillian restaurant here in NH. Very good. I think they use Leblon.

I had my first caipirinha years ago at Green Field (NYC%26#39;s first churrascaria, located in Corona, Queens), and was hooked!

I kinda gave up trying to find good ones. Any recos for finding real, tasty caipirinha in town?

http://www.greenfieldchurrascaria.com/

Piola is G-R-E-A-T! I learned about it in my Portuguese class. It%26#39;s an Italian Brazilian pizza place on 12th and Broadway. Caipirinhas and Pizza is one of lifes greatest combinations. (www.piola.it) Right now they are my favorite.

I also am very into the cocktails at Buzina Pop, which is a trendy upscale Brazilian/French place on 73rd and Lexington. The decor there is great, food is a little pricey..but still good.

And of course Plataforma and Porcao.

Is Greenfield that place on Northern Blvd in the 90%26#39;s-100%26#39;s?

Lesson learned.....view the link BEFORE asking needless questions. Indeed, it%26#39;s the one on Northern. I have been meaning to check that place out.