Four Hundred Caipirinhas Later....

So how do you think you'd feel after drinking four hundred caipirinhas? Actually, make that four hundred caipirinhas in thirteen days - an average of about thirty cocktails per day. You'd probably feel just like Robert Scott Utley, an American tourist in Rio de Janeiro, felt recently as he was being carted away in the paddy wagon after skipping out on his hotel bill. Nauseated, confused and embarrassed - and probably just a little bit relieved that the binge was finally over.

Robert Scott Utley

Mr. Utley, aged 63, who surely deserves a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records for his prodigious caipirinha-drinking capacity, was arrested at Rio de Janeiro's Tom Jobim International Airport on May 10 when he was trying to catch a Delta Airlines flight to the United States. The manager of the hotel in Rio's Copacabana district where Mr. Utley had spent the previous 13 nights became suspicious when the tourist booked an airport car without settling his account. He called the police when Mr. Utley left the hotel without paying his room charges, and they obliged him by arresting Mr. Utley upon his arrival at the airport.

Utley didn't skip on just his bar tab, he left without paying any of his hotel bill, which totalled R$14,488, or about USD $7500. The charge for caipirinhas alone, which cost R$15 each at the hotel, was R$6000, or USD $3000.

According to an article in the Folha de S. Paulo newspaper, after being arrested, the tourist was taken before a magistrate who charged him, and then let him go free on bail, as there were no provisions under Brazilian law to detain him until trial. After signing a note promising to appear before a Brazilian court whenever summoned, he was released and taken to the city's American Consulate. His passport was not taken nor was he forbidden to leave Brazil, and the consulate refuses to say if he has left Brazil or not.

The newspaper article says that Mr. Utley's defense for skipping out was that his credit card had been counterfeited and cancelled, and he couldn't pay his bill. So he decided to return to the United States and send payment from there. But, according to Mr. Utley's statement, lack of funds wasn't the only reason for leaving the hotel on the QT. He told police that although he had reserved the hotel for fourteen days, he left on the thirteenth day because he was having heart problems due to his seven bypass grafts and wanted to get back quickly to the US for treatment.

Let's do a little calculating here. Four hundred caipirinhas in thirteen days with seven bypass grafts. That works out to just about four caipirinhas per graft per day. That's a serious thirst and an impressive feat. Too bad it all went south before he got on that plane to the USA. Besides, what was he thinking trying to catch a Delta flight to the US? Delta doesn't even serve caipirinhas as far as we know!

On the Road - Jericoacoara (Pt. 3)

"Don't go to the bar, it'll come to you."

Getting to Jericoacoara is difficult, getting a drink once you get there is not. Should you be thinking that a beer or a caipirinha sounds like a good idea, chances are that all you need to do is look around you and you'll find just what you're looking for. Like everywhere else in Brazil, licensing laws regulating who may sell alcoholic drinks - when, where and for how much - are non-existant, at least in practice. There is a fairly strict law regarding selling alcohol to minors, and most establishments make an effort to follow that regulation, but otherwise, there's no one to tell anyone else that they may not sell alcoholic beverages.

It's a world away from the highly-controlled system of selling alcohol that exists in many European and North American countries. In Canada, my home country, laws tell a potential publican or a restaurant owner when sales of alcohol are allowed, how much space each patron needs, what size the drinks must be, and the minimum selling price. They even have laws restricting and controlling the volume of recorded music and whether live music is permitted. This is worlds away from the Brazilian system, best described with a French phrase, laissez-faire.

Jericoacoara is no exception to the Brazilian rule. For example, one of the favorite daily activities in Jericoacoara for tourists and locals alike is to ascend the mountainous sand dune at the edge of town just before sunset and from the top to watch the sun set in the sea. It's a ritual that few tourists to Jeri would dare to omit. Getting to the top of the dune involves a steep climb in soft sand - not an easy feat. But it's no problem for cocktail vendors, who push their wheelbarrows to the top of the dune and offer beer and mixed drinks from a styrofoam tub at very reasonable prices. Watching the orange globe of the sun setting in the Atlantic ocean with a fresh caipirinha at hand is an iconic Jericoacoara activity.

Climbing the dune at sunset

Dune-top "bar"

As darkness settles in, Jeri's main beach becomes a moveable feast, as vendors set up moveable stands selling popcorn, meat kebabs, tapioca and other snacks. Along side the food stands, portable bars are set up offering a massive cocktail menu - mostly involving some mixture of tropical fruit and spirits. Drinks are mixed on site and are served in plastic cups with a straw, so that customers can walk the beach or wander the streets of Jeri with their drink in hand. Convenient, and to our minds, highly civilized.

In Brazil, even with this free-flowing tap of alcohol it's unusual to see really drunk people on the streets, or beaches, or in the bar. Brazilians love to get tipsy, which makes them animated, loud, musical and friendly. They don't really like to carry drinking to the point of belligerance, maudlinity or oblivion. Perhaps it's in those places where alcohol is treated like something dangerour or sinful that people, for whatever reason, like to drink themselves silly. Who knows. But Jeri's open and uncontrolled bars would seem to indicate so - we witnessed not one single person who'd seriously overindulged.

Steve Luttman - The American Behind Brazil's Leblon Cachaça

I recently returned to Brazil from a three-week visit to Canada and the USA. I'm always looking for things that might appear on Flavors of Brazil when I travel, and one thing that I noticed is it is becoming increasingly possible to order a caipirinha in bars and restaurants. The caipirinha, of course, is Brazil's most famous cocktail, made with cachaça, a distilled sugar-cane liquor, limes and sugar. Ten or fifteen years ago caipirinhas were nowhere to be seen on the North American bar scene, but now they're popping up all over the place. Casual taverns, bars in airports, contemporary-gastronomy restaurants, even a Chinese restaurant in Vancouver - they all have caipirinhas on their drinks menu.

Steve Luttmann

I also noted that many times the brand of cachaça specified on the menu was Leblon (especially in bars where the vodka is likely to be Grey Goose and the gin Bombay Sapphire). It was not a brand that I was familiar with here in Brazil, and upon my return to Brazil my curiosity got the best of me and I did a bit of research on it. It turns out that Leblon (named after a chic neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro) is a relatively new brand which distills its product in the small city of Patos in the state of Minas Gerais. It also turns out that the CEO of Leblon is an American, Steve Luttmann, who has made it his own personal crusade to spread the good word about cachaça and the caipirinha around the world. Leblon's "Legalize Cachaça" campaign is classic 21st century marketing and seems to be doing what it's meant to do - increase consumer awareness and thereby increase sales.

Steve Luttman was recently interviewed by Brazilian gastronomic magazine Prazeres da Mesa. In the interview he detailed what he is attempting to do, and where he hopes to take the cachaça market outside Brazil. Here is a translation (mine) of that interview:

What is the image that most North Americans have of Brazil?
It's still considered an exotic place. Some still think, for example, that the capital of Brazil is Buenos Aires. But they know that Brazil has the most beautiful women and the best party in the world - carnaval.


And how are they reacting to cachaça?
One good point about Americans is that they like to try new things. Besides, the best-selling cocktail in the USA is the margarita, a [Mexican] classic that combines lime juice, tequila and Cointreau and which is very similar to the caipirinha. That's the key, in my opinion, to market innovation. In order to gain strength in the cocktail market, you've got to have a firm footing in familiarity.

What about Brazilians? Do you think they will accept having their national drink distilled by an American?
The problem is that the true Brazilian has a prejudice against cachaça, because he sees it as a low-quality product. A good cachaça can be as high-quality as a wine - it's the Brazilian "champagne." It's important that the consumer understands this. Our team is working round the clock to change this. We're now found in the most elegant hotels in São Paul and Rio de Janeiro and in restaurants such as those of Alex Atala, Claude Troisgros and Roberta Sudbreck plus the Fasano group.


The master-distiller of Leblon is Gilles Merlet, from France, and also responsible for other products such as Hennessy Cognac. Does he come to Brazil or work at distance?
Gilles spends three or four months in Brazil, at harvest time. Outside this period, we send samples to him almost daily so that he doesn't miss a single step in the production process. It's an honor, for us, to have him on the team. In the world market, Gilles is for distilled products what Michel Rolland is for wines.


In your opinion, what makes Leblon different from other cachaças?
Our product is a blended cachaça, resulting in a product with complex aromas and flavors.


Finally, does the average American know how to make a good caipirinha?
The traditional recipe for a "kuai-pur-een-ya" (as Americans tend to pronounce caipirinha) has been demonstrated [by Leblon] in videos and in our consumer marketing campaign. However, certain adaptations have been put into practice, too. Americans are always in a hurry, so they sometimes mix a caipirinha with boxed or bottled lime juice, or even lime soda! But the good bartenders use the traditional recipe, and are learning to experiment with exotic modifications such as strawberry with basil, or cucumber with jalapenos peppers and dates, for example.

Luttmann can prove his point about the continuing acceptance of Leblon in the international market merely by pointing to his company's sales growth. In their first year of business, 2005, Leblon produced 20,000 9-liter cases of cachaça. Last year that number was 100,000 cases. According to Luttmann, American consumer awareness for the caipirinha is currently about 30% and cachaça itself about 20%. He is intent on increasing those percentages significantly in the years to come.

Summer Day Cocktail - The Popsicle Caipirinha (Caipirinha com Picolé)

Put a popsicle in it. That seems to be the way to really cool down a caipirinha during the heat of the Brazilian summer - at least according to the very hip São Paulo bar Boteco São Bento, it is. The bar has taken to making the fruit- and liquor-based cocktail in large glasses, with fresh fruit crushed in the drink as is customary, and then plopping a popsicle of the same fruit flavor into the glass. The popsicle cools down the drink as it melts and instead of diluting it, as melting ice cubes do, the frozen treat keeps the fruit component of the drink strong and flavorful.

At the two branches of Boteco São Bento the popsicle caipirinha is made not with cachaça but instead with sake. Just like the original dry martini recipe from the early years of the 20th century eventually evolving into a multitude of drinks - all called martini because they were served in a classic martini glass - the recent trend in Brazil is to call any mixture of liquor and crushed fresh fruit in a glass a caipirinha (or some variation on that name). Personally, I think there's only one way to make a true martini or a true caipirinha - everything else that riffs on the theme should be called something else. So I have no problem with a vodka-based caipiroska or a caipirissima made with rum because the name is different. But if you want to make a caipirinha, with our without a popsicle in it, it has to have cachaça.

That linguistic rant out of the way, the idea of adding a popsicle to a fruit-based cocktail of any sort is a grand idea, and Flavors of Brazil applauds whoever at Boteco São Bento who came up with the idea. As their popsicles are anything but traditional with the use of sake, Boteco São Bento also alters the fresh fruit component of the drink when making popsicle caipirinhas. Two favorite versions at the bar are the Manga Quente (Hot Mango) which combines crushed fresh mangoes and key limes with a mango popsicle, and the Uva Itália (Italian Grape) combining fresh red grapes and lychees with a grape popsicle. Pictured to the right is their Manjericaba, made with jabuticaba and basil (manjericão) topped with a jabuticaba popsicle.

Brazilian artisanally-made popsicles are generally of high quality and great flavor and I look forward to doing some experimenting of my own with the formula. I'm already thinking that you could do a great take-off on the classic piña colada by making a cocktail of rum and fresh pineapple juice and then adding a coconut popsicle. Plus, I do intend to make a true popsicle caipirinha one of these days - with nothing but cachaça, fresh limes and a nice tart lime popsicle. I promise to report back on the results.

RECIPE - Caipirinha Grilled Chicken (Frango com Marinada Caipirinha)

When I lived in Canada, one of my favorite recipes for grilling chicken was called "Margarita Grilled Chicken". In the dish, pieces of chicken were marinated overnight in a mixture of tequila and fresh lime juice, then simply grilled over charcoal or propane. The result was spectacular and guests always raved about the tenderness and flavor of the meat. I guess almost any meat would be tender after bathing 24 hours in a tequila bath!

I was thinking the other day that this recipe would probably be just as successful made with cachaça, Brazil's distilled sugar cane liquor. So I thought I would give it a whirl. After all, if tequila and lime juice combine to become a margarita marinade, cachaça and lime juice would make a caipirinha marinade just as simply.

I made it out the other night, and as I suspected, the dish was wonderful. I used gold cachaça, which is aged and has a slightly stronger flavor than white cachaça, and it was a good substitution, as even after grilling, the chicken retained the citric flavor of the limes and the taste of cachaça. I had guests over for the "test", and they all loved the dish, though none of them had ever previously eaten the margarita version. For me, both recipes - the one with tequila or the one with cachaça - are winners, but being a Brazilophile, I'm going to go with Caipirinha Chicken from here on out.
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RECIPE - Caipirinha Grilled Chicken (Frango com Marinada Caipirinha)
Serves 6

1 cup (250 ml) fresh-squeezed lime juice.
1/2 cup (125 ml) cachaça
1/4 cup (125 ml) cilantro, finely chopped
2 chili peppers, serrano or jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 1/2 Tbsp. Mexican chili powder
1 tsp. salt
fresh-ground black pepper to taste
6 boneless chicken breast halves with skin
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Begin the day before serving. Mix all ingredients, except the chicken, in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Add chicken breasts, and turn several times in the marinade to coat completely. Cover the bowl, and place in refrigerator, overnight or up to 24 hours. Turn the chicken pieces in the marinade once or twice.

Prepare grill and brush grill rack with oil. Heat to medium hot. Remove chicken pieces from marinade, and grill until cooked through, turning once, about 9 minutes per side. Transfer to platter, decorate with thin slices of lime, and serve immediately.

Happy National Cachaça Day!!

Today, September 13, is the unofficial but increasingly-recognized Brazilian National Cachaça Day (Dia Nacional da Cachaça). The date was chosen because way back in 1661, on September 13, 1661 to be precise, the Portuguese crown authorized the production of cachaça - a distilled liquor made from sugar cane juice. Apparently there had already been many years of clandestine cachaça production in Brazil, and under pressure from producers and consumers, the king of Portugal decided to legalize (and tax) the drink in 1661.

Since that date, uncountable billions, or possibly trillions, of gallons of cachaça have been consumed in Brazil, and in recent years, around the world. Even with a growing export market, however, Brazil manages to drink 99% of its cachaça, sending a mere 1% overseas. Long considered a workingman's drink, cachaça has steadily been working its way upmarket, and most of the growth in the market is in aged and premium cachaças.

Of course, it's impossible to celebrate National  Cachaça Day without toasting it with a caipirinha - THE iconic cachaça cocktail that's Brazil's contribution to the Cocktail Hall of Fame. To honor the 2010 edition of the holiday, noted Brazilian drinks consultant Márcio Silva has divulged his recipe for "The Perfect Caipirinha (A Caipirinha Perfeita). It differs from the classic recipe for a caipirinha (which can be found here on Flavors of Brazil) primarily in the use of simple syrup instead of granular sugar. According to Silva, the use of syrup allows the sweetness of sugar to integrate totally into the drink and makes it easier for the mixologist to control the sweetness of the cocktail.

Here is the recipe for a Perfect Caipirinha (translated and adapted from Folha de S. Paulo)

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RECIPE - Perfect Caipirinha

For the simple syrup:
1 lb (500 gr) granulated white sugar
1 cup cold water

For the caipirinha:
1 large juicy lime
1 1/2 oz (50 ml) good-quality cachaça
cubed ice, broken
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Make the syrup: Bring the water to a boil over medium heat. Stir in the sugar and continue to boil, stirring constantly, until it is totally dissolved. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Put the syrup into a clean bottle or jar and refrigerate. Can be kept up to one month in the refrigerator.

Make the caipirinha: Wash the lime well. Cut in half, then cut each half into four pieces. Put the wedges of lime in a tall glass, then add 2 Tbsp. (20 ml) simple syrup (more or less, to taste). With a pestle, or the handle end of a large wooden spoon, crush the lime wedges, making sure to extract all the juice. Add the cachaça and the chunks of cubed ice. With a long cocktail spoon, mix the drink until all the ingredients are combined and the drink is cooled.

Serve immediately.

(A previous version of this post referred to September 15 as National Cachaça Day in error.)

RECIPE - Tangerine Caipirinha "Veloso Bar"

This sophisticated, and daringly different take on a caipirinha, Brazil's "national cocktail" is the creation of Deusdete de Souza, bartender at São Paulo's Veloso Bar and four-time winner of "bartender of the year" award in the  Veja São Paulo Guide to Eating and Drinking. In addition to the expected cachaça and tangerine, the intensity of the drink is punched up with bits of hot chili pepper - specifically the pepper known in Brazil as dedo-de-moça (meaning "little girl's finger" in English).

One of the most interesting recent trends in mixology here in Brazil is the expansion of the caipirinha vocabulary, using the traditional cocktail as a platform for inventive and innovative flights of fancy. Sometimes these creations "crash and burn", but this one works out very well indeed. Delicious.
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RECIPE - Tangerine Caipirinha "Veloso Bar"
Makes 1 drink

1 small tangerine or mandarin, unpeeled, carefully washed and with extremities removed
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar (or to taste)
ice cubes
1 small dedo-de-moça pepper (or other small hot red pepper), split down the middle, seeded, and cut into fine strips (quantity can be adjusted up or down depending on preference)
2 oz (50 ml) golden cachaça

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With a sharp paring knife, cut the tangerine in half horizontally, then into slices. Remove seeds. Place the tangerine slices in a tall tumbler, add the sugar, then macerate with a pestle or handle of a large wooden spoon. Add ice cubes, then cachaça. Fill glass with additional ice if needed. Using a bar spoon, mix the drink from bottom to top, then serve.

Recipe translated and adapted from Claudia magazine, Abril Editora

FAQ - What's a "caipirinha" (besides a cocktail)?

Worldwide, "caipirinha" is probably one of the most well-known words of Brazilian Portuguese, right up there with "bossa nova", "samba" and "futebol". But what does it mean, exactly, other than being the name of a absolutely delicious cocktail?

The word "caipirinha" is the diminuitive form of the word "caipira". Brazilian Portuguese uses many diminuitives, generally in a friendly and affectionate way (sort of like calling your partner or spouse "baby"). The word caipira refers to a person from the backcountry, someone who isn't citified or sophisticated. The best translation in English is "hillbilly" or "hick". So a caipirinha is, in effect, a "little hillbilly".

Today the word is used so much more with the sense of the cocktail, that probably very few Brazilians even pause to think that they're ordering a "little hillbilly" when they ask the waiter for a caipirinha. They just want to get their hands on a nice cold drink!

RECIPE - Caipirinha (The Classic Recipe)

In the interests of complying with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture (click here to read what the Ministry has to do with a caipirinha recipe), here is the recipe for a classic caipirinha. Be sure to use good-sized, sturdy old-fashioned glassed, and clear, cubed ice. Shaved or crushed ice is a crime, and a blended caipirinha approaches a capital crime, or would if Brazil had capital punishment. Also, this drink is best made one drink at a time, in the glass in which it will be served. There is no such thing as a pitcher of caipirinhas.

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RECIPE - Caipirinha (The Classic Recipe)
Makes 1 drink

2 tsp. granulated sugar (may be decreased to as little as 1 tsp. or increased to 3 tsp., to taste)
8 wedges of lime, including skin
2.5 oz. (75 ml) cachaça

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Muddle the sugar and the limes in an old-fashioned glass. (You can use the handle end of a wooden spoon if you don't have a muddler. Or you can use a non-porous pestle of any material.)
Fill the glace with fresh, cubed ice.
Pour the cachaça into the glass, stir well.

Finally, do as the Brazilians do - lift your glass to your drinking companions, look everyone who is toasting in the eye, and say "saúde! (It means "health" and it's pronounced sa-OO-gee). Be sure to take a drink after toasting, as placing the glass on the table before sipping is a serious breach of toasting protocol.

Saúde!

How To Make a Caipirinha (Legally)

Once again I've come across an example of governmental bureaucracy gone wild, this time courtesy of a blog called Cachaçagora (You can find a link to it in the right column of this blog, under "My Blog List). As if there were not more pressing matters do be dealt with, Brazil's Ministry of Agriculture decided back in 2008 to publish a decree as to what gave a cocktail the right to call itself a caipirinha.

Brazil's national drink has a long history, and a very simple basic recipe with only three ingredients - cachaça, sugar and limes. Over the course of the years, numerous variations have appeared, some with new names, and some using the name caipirinha. It appears the Ministry of Agriculture has no problem with the caipiroska, which substitutes vodka for the cachaça, or with the caipirissima, which replaces the cachaça with rum, but they really don't like it when somebody makes a lemon caipirinha, or a strawberry caipirinha, or a whisky caipirinha.

Consequently, the Ministry published the following decree in its official gazette to help those who want to make a caipirinha, but somehow err along the way.

TECHNICAL REGULATION FOR THE SETTING OF STANDARDS OF IDENTITY AND QUALITY FOR THE CAIPIRINHA
Article 1 - The object of this Technical Regulation is to establish the standards of identity and quality which a caipirinha must obey.
Article 2 - This Technical Regulation both to any caipirinha sold in the national territory, as well as any sold outside Brazil.
Article 3 - The caipirinha is a typical Brazilian drink, with alcoholic strength between fifteen and thirty-six percent by volume at 20 degrees Celsius, made with cachaça, lime and sugar, to which water may be added to standardize the alcoholic strength, and additives. A drink made according to these standards and prepared by a technical process appropriate to ensure its presentation and conservation until the time of consumption  shall be called a caipirinha.
Article 4 - The ingredients used in the preparation of a caipirinha are:
a) - basic ingredients - cachaça, lime and sugar.
1. The permissible sugar is sucrose - granulated or refined sugar - which can be partially or completely substituted by inverted sugar and glucose, in quantity not superior to 150 grams per liter and not inferior to 10 grams per liter. Substitution by by artificial or other natural sweeteners is not permitted.
2. The utilized lime may be in a dehydrated form and must be present in a minimum proportion of 1% lime juice and 5% citric acid, expressed in grams per hundred grams.
b) - optional ingredient - the water used must obey the norms and standards approved by legislation for drinking water, and must be conditioned, exclusively, on the standardization of the alcoholic strength of the final product.
Article 5 - the alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages used in the preparation of a caipirinha must adhere to their own standards of identity and quality as defined by the appropriate legislation, if it exists.

Whew! What a bunch of overblown language, resulting in absolutely no clear idea of what a caipirinha is or how to make one. I'm not going to bother with helping readers of Flavors of Brazil any further as to what a caipirinha is, but in the next post, I'll provide the classic recipe for a caipirinha. From that point on, you can make one yourself. Once you've tasted a true caipirinha, you'll have no problem identifying one from that point on - even if you forget to bring your "Technical Regulation for Standards of Identity and Quality" along with you to the bar.