Opinion – Recipes by Marcão: Learn the secrets to making the best caipirinha possible

While some drink to celebrate, others drink to distract from sadness. As I write the column before the match between Brazil and South Korea, have a caipirinha to harmonize with victory or defeat.

Caipirinha is the most popular Brazilian recipe in the rest of the world — who said that recipe is just for food? National treasure, the drink admits some variations of fruit and beverage.

Or do you not admit it? The fight between the cachaça purists and the creative crowd will not end, nor will there be a winner. You choose what you like best.

Today we are going with the traditional recipe. Well, not that traditional. It’s a pinga caipirinha with lemon, but with some innovation to transform it into the best caipirinha possible.

I’m not the one to brag about my apartment bartender skills: I got the caipirinha tips from Jean Ponce, partner and bartender at Guarita, in an interview I did with him a few years ago.

The big difference from Jean’s caipirinha is the sugar, which is in a liquid state. Syrup—in bar parlance, sugar diluted with hot water—is a key ingredient in modern cocktail making.

Its advantage is that it is already dissolved. You stir it with a spoon and there’s not a single grain of sugar in the drink.

Sugar syrup can be simple (water and sugar in the same proportion) or double (two parts sugar to one part water). Double syrup is a little more tedious to make, but it makes the drink less watery.

You can make as much syrup as you like. Anything not used right away can be stored forever in the fridge.

Another detail that improves the caipirinha is the choice of lemon: smooth and shiny peel indicates a juicy fruit. To get the most juice with the least amount of maceration, you should cut it into thin slices, trying not to separate them completely (using Japanese food chopsticks to interrupt the cut helps with the task).

Finally, the cachaça. Try to use the best white cachaça (without passing through a wooden barrel) that you have at hand.

The best caipirinha possible

Yield: 1 serving

Difficulty: easy

SYRUP INGREDIENTS

1 kg of sugar

500 ml of water

CAIPIRINHA INGREDIENTS

1 lime

20 ml double syrup (or 40 ml simple syrup)

60 ml of white cachaça

Ice

PREPARATION

1. In a pan, mix the water and sugar. Heat until it starts to dissolve. Turn off the heat and stir until completely dissolved. Expect to cool down completely before using.
2. Discard the ends of the lemon and cut it in half. Remove the white membrane that separates the buds.
3. Place the lemon halves on a cutting board, cut side down. Place the fruit between two chopsticks and divide it into slices of about 0.5 cm (the chopsticks will interrupt the cut).
4. In a low glass place the sliced ​​lemon and the syrup. Crush with a pestle. Apply gentle pressure with gentle strokes. Three or four macerations will be enough to extract the lemon juice and aromas.
5. Add the cachaça, fill with ice, stir and drink.