Cocktail Hacker

Sipping a Caipirinha truly makes you feel like a Brazilian, if only for a short time.  The fresh lime flavor, sweetness and grassy flavor of the cachaça meld in to a truly wonderful drink.  The flavor is extremely refreshing, not unlike a slightly alcoholic limeade.  Not to mention these drinks are exceedingly drinkable.  That said, as I discussed earlier in the week muddling this drink really is key to the flavor profile.  As is granulated sugar rather than simple syrup.  The muddling action extracts some of the oils from the lime peel which are then infused into the resulting cocktail.  This changes the drink in the same way that a flamed orange peel or a lemon twist.

So, what about the choice of sugar?  I began my week using plain white sugar which worked very well.  Feeling that I might be able to change it up a bit I tried using demerara instead.  This helped to deepen the natural sugar flavors that the cachaça brings to the party.  There is one downside to this choice though.  Since the demerara sugar adds additional flavor it can mask subtle flavors in the cachaça.  So, given that I’d say give it a try but make sure you choose a cachaça with a bold enough flavor to stand up to the demerara.

Although there are a few recipes for the Caipirinha floating around most of them seem to follow the same general formula.  Namely: 1 oz cachaca, 1/4 lime (cut in to two wedges), and 1 tsp sugar.  Some recipes, Gary Regan’s for example, call for three ounces of cachaça.  That’s going to make for a pretty hefty cocktail and since these go down very easy it could get out of hand pretty quickly.  With that in mind my suggested recipe cuts back the cachaça to only two ounces, but keeps the formula the same.  I highly suggest you mix one up and enjoy the carioca life.  Even if it is fleeting.

Caipirinha (Cocktail Hacker)

2 oz Cachaça
1/2 Lime (4 wedges)
2 tsp Sugar

1) Muddle lime and sugar until sugar is dissolved
2) Add cachaça and cracked ice
3) Stir until well combined

You’ll note that on every bottle of cachaça you buy in the US there is a sublabel listing it as Brazilian Rum.  It’s not a coincidence or marketing gimmick.  Rather this is a requirement of the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).  The TTB in their own words defines a rum as:

Spirits distilled from the fermented juice of sugar cane, sugar cane syrup, sugar cane molasses or other sugar cane by-products at less than 95% alcohol by volume (190 proof) having the taste, aroma and characteristics generally attributed to rum and bottled at not less than 40% alcohol by volume (80 proof)

In addition the TTB requires that every bottle of alcohol sold in this country be labeled with, among other things, the class and type designation of the spirit.  Which means , to the dismay of the producers, that although cachaça is distinct from rum it must be labeled as such to be sold here.  So, now that you have some background on why it’s labeled as rum, let’s discuss why it’s not rum at all.

Cachaça is a spirit produced from fermented sugar cane juice where as most rum is produced from fermented molasses instead.  Like rum the distillation process for cachaça varies from producer to producer, but there is another interesting wrinkle in the production process that sets cachaça apart.  Legally additional sugar can be added to the final spirit to alter the flavor profile.  Namely, up to six grams of sugar per liter can be added to the product without declaring on the label.  Camper English, in this interesting post about cachaça, goes on to note that if the producer adds between six and fifteen grams of sugar per liter the cachaça is now referred to as sweet cachaça or cachaça adocada.  This is an interesting tidbit to be sure as it explains some of the differing flavor profiles we experienced in our tasting.

There are lots of other interesting facts about cachaça.  For example Brazilians consume the equivalent of eight liters per person yearly and cachaça is the number three most distilled spirit in the world behind vodka and soju.  If you’re interested in reading up on some more fact this page on the American University web site has some good info and goes in to moderate detail about the history of the spirit as well.

Before getting started this week I’d certainly heard of cachaça in the past and read some comments about it.  I even had a bottle in my collection, but always thought of it simply as another kind of rum.  So I went to work educating myself.  I did some reading about cachaça’s history, read up on fellow bloggers comments and took a look at the brands available.  Once I felt slightly more well informed I did what any good cocktail fan does, I invited some friends over for a cachaça tasting.

Nearly everyone at the tasting had never had cachaça before so this was an educational and entertaining experience for us all.  Our process was dead simple.  I gave everyone a small bit of each cachaça one at a time and we sipped and commented.  I frantically wrote down the thoughts and present those results here for your enjoyment.

Pitu

The first thing you’ll note about Pitu is its warm, buttery fruit aroma.  Following that initial sniff you’ll start to pick up the vegetal notes that are common of both cachaça and rhum agricole.  The flavor echoes the vegetal characteristics and buttery notes from the aroma and adds a very subtle wood aged flavor.  Ted wasn’t fond of the wood flavors, but that’s not particularly suprising as he generally doesn’t like wood aged spirits at all.  The rest of us found it quite pleasant though.  In tasting this cachaça you’ll also note it’s drier than some of the others you’ll come across, about the level of a white rum.  Overall a good cachaça and very affordable.  If this is the only cachaça available in your area you won’t be disappointed.

Boca Loca

Boca Loca was up next on the docket.  The first thing you’ll notice about the aroma of this cachaça is additional sweetness.  You’ll get some of the same buttery notes in the aroma but less of the vegetal qualities.  The flavor, not surprisingly, echoes both the aroma.  You get a subtle, pleasant sweetness that comes through as well as a nice butterscotch/caramel flavor.  Overall this cachaça has a much more mild flavor and, as one of the tasters put it, “you can tell it’s going to be friendlier to you.”  Of the five cachaças we tasted this was our second favorite.  Because of the milder, less funky flavor this would be a great cachaça to introduce people to the spirit.  This brand is also very affordable and is certainly worth picking up if you’re looking to make some caipirinhas.

Ypioca Crystal

Next up was a bottle of Ypioca Crystal that my cousin brought back from a trip to Mexico.  Since this bottle was purchased at a duty free store you’ll note there is no “Brazilian Rum” category on the bottle.  Just an interesting tid bit.  This cachaça had a very unique fruit aroma, specifically that of a granny smith apple.  The fruitiness isn’t as aparent in the flavor, rather you get a bit of initial harshness that fades in the aftertaste.  Not an unpleasant cachaça, but also not our favorite of the evening.

Cabana

Cabana is a bit of the odd man out in this tasting for a couple of reasons.  First it bills itself as authentically Brasilian which has peeved some natives as, although the spirit is produced in Sao Paulo, the company is owned and managed from NYC by a former employee of JP Morgan.  Second, Cabana bills itself as an ultra premium cachaça and to that end employs a double distillation process.  You’ll immediately pick up the extra distillation in the aroma or lack there-of.  Colton, who had just arrived as we were pouring the Cabana, commented that it “smells like liquor.”  Which, although humorous on the surface, is actually quite true.  You pick up very faint grass notes in the aroma, but that’s about it.  The flavor is similar to that of a vodka.  Overall we didn’t much like this cachaça and at the high end of the cost scale (~$35) I would say it’s not worth it.

Leblon

Leblon was our final cachaça for the night and the crowd favorite.  In the aroma the buttery notes are more subdued and the grass is more forward with this one.  In addition you’ll pick up additional fruit smells peeking through.  Ted described the aroma as reminding him of corn candy which, if you’re not familiar with it, is sweet corn flavored hard candy you can find in asian markets.  There is a subtle golden hue to the spirit which likely comes as a result of the short aging in brandy barrels.  The flavor is more complex than the others hitting on the fruity and grassy notes picked up in the aroma.  Finally, you don’t get the same aftertaste that you do with the Pitu, Ypioca and Cabana.  In summary, this is my cachaça of choice for a caipirinha as it adds a great level of complexity.  It’s a bit pricier than some of the others, but I think the additional cost is well worth it.

So, now you at least have enough information about cachaça to talk intelligently at a dinner party and I certainly hope our tasting has given you some guidance on what brands to keep an eye out for.  If, however, you’re a skimmer and would prefer not to read this whole post, let me give you the two second summary.  Cachaça although labeled rum in the US is most certainly a different beast.  If you’re looking for your first bottle to add to your home bar try Boca Loca or Leblon.  Boca Loca is going to give you a more mellow, slightly sweeter flavor and the Leblon is going to be more complex and slightly more expensive.  You won’t be disappointed with either.

So there you have it.  Go forth and imbibe.

The question has plagued mankind since the development of the Caipirinha.  Should one muddle the cocktail or shake?  It’s the kind of question fights have been started over.  Well, I couldn’t let this dilemma go unsolved any longer.  So I mixed up a Caipirinha show down for the benefit of all of us.

Caipirinha (Shaken)

2 oz Cachaça (Leblon)
1 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Rich Simple Syrup

Caipirinha (Muddled)

1/2 Lime cut in Wedges
2 tsp Sugar
2 oz Cachaça (Leblon)

The verdict is a bit of a hard one.  Both of these varients have their pluses and minuses.  Certainly both are very tasty and I definitely wouldn’t turn either down.

Shaken

Pro – Very simple to mix in batches ahead of time or in large quantities
Pro – Tremendously drinkable
Con – Sourness of the lime covered by simple syrup
Con – Subtleties of the cachaça are lost

Muddled

Pro – Classic recipe
Pro – Bitterness from peel and oils adds to flavor
Pro – Much more complex flavor
Pro – More interesting presentation
Pro – Cachaça flavor comes through more
Con – Longer prep
Con – Requires muddler
Con – Need fresh limes

Okay, those last two cons for the muddled recipe are both a stretch.  You can use damn near anything blunt as a muddler and I’d certainly hope you were buying fresh limes for this drink anyway.  So, the final verdict?  Make the muddled version unless you’re either making them by the pitcher full or mixing tons and tons of them for a party.

Still worried that you can’t make this drink due to a lack of muddler?  Fear not.  The good folks at Leblon Cachaça will happily send you a muddler for only the cost of shipping ($2.00).  I used mine to make the drink you see pictured above.  You can pick yours up right here.

Today is the day folks.  Whether you think of it as Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, Shove Tuesday, Pancake Day or, as the Brazilians know it, Carnaval, today is a day to celebrate.  For you Catholics out there today marks the last day before the beginning of Lent.  Lent refers to both the 40 day period prior to Easter Sunday and the tradition of fasting from certain foods or practices.  In the US you’ll find most people practicing Lent by giving up a food they love, typically junk food.  My Grandpa Lloyd for example would always give up watermelon for Lent.  Which worked out particularly well for him since you generally couldn’t get it during Lent anyway.

Photo Copyright Raquel Teixeira

But, I’m not here to talk about Lent.  I’m here to talk a very small bit about Carnaval.  No, it’s not spelled wrong.  Carnaval is the correct Portuguese spelling of Carnival and is probably the most well known event in Brazil.  Carnaval consists of a number of days worth of partying, dancing and parading culminating the four days before Ash Wednesday.  Groups will congregate and form blocos which assemble and then parade throughout the city.  In Rio de Janeiro you get the addition of the local Samba schools who compete in the four night Sambadrome.  Which, never have been to Carnaval I can only assume is very similar to Thunderdome.  That’s probably not true at all, but it would be awesome.

If you’re looking for a party but sadly don’t have decorations to make it happen head on over to Leblon’s website and pick up your very own Leblon Carnaval Kit.  The kit comes complete with masks, beads, glow sticks, and even a music CD to put your party in the right mood.  Add to that some Caipirinhas and you’ll be set for a night of partying.

In honor of Carnaval and Mardi Gras tonight I’m hosting a cachaça tasting at my house complete with homemade gumbo in true New Orleans style.  I’ll be posting the results later in the week.

This week, and specifically Tuesday, is Carnaval in Brazil and to celebrate I’m featuring Brazil’s national drink, the Caipirinha.  The Caipirinha [KIE-PEE-REEN-YAH] is a fairly simple drink consisting of only cachaça [KA-SHA-SA], limes and sugar muddled together to create what Gary Regan lovingly refers to as “an elixir.”  Sounds fantastic to me, sign me up.

I’m going to keep this intro post a bit on the short side this time as I plan to put up detail posts on Carnaval, cachaça and the results of our cachaça tasting as the week goes on.  So stay tuned and here’s a Caipirinha recipe to get you in the right frame of mind.

Caipirinha (Joy of Mixology)

4 to 6 Lime Wedges
1 Tbsp Granulated Sugar
3 oz Cachaça

1) Muddle the limes and sugar in an old fashioned glass.
2) Add crushed ice and cachaça.
3) Stir thoroughly.

Sure, it’s no longer against the law to mix and drink these cocktails, but we can always pretend right?  The Scofflaw is the perfect drink for that kind of pretending too.  The ingredients are classic, especially if you go with Rye, and you should.  The flavor can range from dry to sweet depending on your taste.  Finally, the color is simply stunning.

I started my experiments this week with The Joy of Mixology recipe (2 oz Rye, 1 oz Dry Vermouth, 1/2 oz Lemon Juice, 1/4 oz Grenadine) and found it to be a little too dry for my liking.  The next recipe I mixed up (1 1/2 oz, 1 oz, 3/4 oz, 3/4 oz), from Forgotten Spirits and Cocktails, was on the opposite end of the spectrum, much too sweet.  After a couple recipe tweaks I settled on one that I really like which ups the sour and sweet notes while keeping the whiskey and vermouth flavors present.

Scofflaw (Cocktail Hacker)

1 1/2 oz Rye
1 oz Dry Vermouth
3/4 oz Lemon Juice
1/2 oz Grenadine

Some parting comments.  I tried both rye and bourbon in this cocktail and found both worked very well.  But, as in the Manhattan, I felt the spiciness of the rye worked better in this application.  I also used my homemade hibiscus grenadine that I discussed earlier in the week which is a little less sweet than some.  Depending on the sweetness of your grenadine you may want to play with the amount you add to get the sweetness you’re looking for.

So, early on in CH history I tackled making homemade grenadine which was a real revelation for me.  For both of the recipes I whipped up I used Pom juice, which turned out good.  Certainly a damn sight better than the store bought stuff.  but, I felt there was still something missing.  I hadn’t used fresh pomegranantes.  Fresh fruits always seem to add a brightness that can’t be obtained with bottled juices.

I can’t claim my own lack of fresh ingredients as my only source of inspiration though.  I got some inspiration from Rookie Libations via Tiare at a Mountain of Crushed Ice.  Chris has the genius idea of adding some hibiscus to grenadine to deepen the redness of the grenadine and add some floral notes.  Since my original grenadine recipe called for a tiny addition of orange flower water the additional floral notes in this recipe sounded like just what I was looking for.  So, in search of hibiscus I did go.

Living in a city centered around fitness and health it was no trouble to find hibiscus last Sunday evening.  Next up was pomegranates.  Both Chris and Tiare used fresh fruits, I on the other hand was leaning towards to the lazy side.  When I arrived at Whole Foods and they had pint tubs of pomegranates pips I knew it was made to be.

I changed up both Chris and Tiare’s recipes a tiny bit to get the flavor profile I was looking for.

Hibiscus Grenadine

2 c Sugar
2 c Water
2 c Pomegranate Pips (~2 Fruits)
1 oz Dried Hibiscus Flowers

1) Combine ingredients in a non-reactive sauce pan.
2) Bring mixture to a boil.
3) Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for another 20 minutes.
4) Turn off heat and allow to cool for about an hour.
5) Strain and bottle.
6) Add 2 oz Grain Alcohol to increase shelf life.

How is the flavor?  To sum it up in a word, amazing.  The resulting grenadine is less sweet that my previous preferred recipe, but slightly less sour.  I think this is likely a result of the fresh fruit in place of bottled juice.  The hibiscus flowers really do add a floral note to this end product and the color is also enriched.  However, I must admit, the color is really not that much deeper than that of the previous recipe I whipped up.

If you’re going to be making a batch of homemade grenadine on your own I’d say go for the hibiscus grenadine.  The flavor is less sweet which allows you to add a little more to cocktails without overwhelming the other ingredients and the floral notes are great.

Noilly Prat has just released a brand new recipe for their popular dry vermouth.  Wait.  No.  That’s not right at all.  Scratch that.

Noilly Prat has discontinued the US version of the dry vermouth that you’ve been drinking for years.  In its place, the US will now be partaking of the original 1813 recipe that has always been distributed in Europe.  The 1813 recipe is sweeter than the Noilly you’ve gotten used to but I think it’s better too.  The color is a bit darker, likely from the barrel aging.  Noilly ages their dry vermouth for 8 months in large oak casks indoors and then moves them to smaller barrels which further age another year outside.  In addition to the oakiness and slightly sweeter flavor I think the herbal notes are more forward in the 1813 formula, which is also most welcome.  Overall I really like this new/old version.

One gripe though.  As you can see from the picture at the left the bottle came with a tiny booklet explaining the new (old) product and suggesting some serving options.  The first is to simply serve it over ice as an aperitif, which I can certainly understand and could go for.  The second recipe is for the Ultimate Dry Martini Cocktail which calls for 1 part Noilly Prat dry vermouth to 4 parts Grey Goose vodka.  Now, I realize that this is marketing material and they’re trying to appeal to the masses, but seriously?  You’re going to call a vodka Martini the ulimate Martini in which your vermouth could be used?  I think they could have done better, but alas, that’s why I’m not in marketing.

This month’s Mixology Monday is being hosted by Matt Rowley of Rowley’s Whiskey Forge.  The topic, Hard Drinks for Hard Times, I’m sure hits home for a lot of us.  My 401K is down 8.9% for 2009 (don’t even ask about 2008), I have friends and relatives who have been laid off, overall times truly are hard.  Thankfully I’m in a lucky position working at a stable job that I enjoy.  That doesn’t mean I can’t do a little cutting back on spending though.  On that note I’d like to offer up my Recession Gin and Tonic.

Recession Gin and Tonic

2 oz Burnett's Gin
6 oz Canada Dry Tonic Water
1 tsp Realime or Other Bottled Lime Juice

1) Combine in a double old fashioned glass with ice
2) Enjoy
3) Repeat

If you’ve been reading CH for a while now you already know about my love of the squeeze lime, which I waxed poetic about for MxMo XXXII.  However, not everyone agrees with my use of bottled juice as is evidenced by the haiku battle that raged in my blog comments.  I’ll certainly grant you that squeeze lime, or really any bottled juice, doesn’t offer the freshness of flavor that fresh juices bring.  On the other hand, they do offer convenience and affordability, which is key to surviving tough times.

For this G&T recipe I’ve used Burnett’s gin.  I picked up my first handle of Burnett’s after reading this review by Jonathan Forester.  Jonathan nailed it in his review.  This is a gin that is very inexpensive but packs a good deal of flavor.  It has a nice amount of juniper and the citrus notes are strong enough to make it a great gin for a G&T.

Finally, I went with Canada Dry tonic water, my now favorite super market tonic water.  Clearly I could have chosen to go with store brand tonic water, but even though I’m going for an inexpensive cocktail here, I still want it to taste good.  I am actually drinking these afterall.

So how hard is this cocktail going to hit your wallet?  It’s not going to hit it hard at all.  It’s going to be like a kitten falling on a pile of pillows.

• Burnett’s Gin (1.75 L) $15.99 -> 2 oz $0.54
• Realime (15 oz) $3.09 -> 1 tsp $0.04
• C-Dry Tonic (6×12 oz) $2.99 -> 6 oz $0.25
• Total Cost Per Drink $0.83

Eighty three cents.  Try to wrap your head around that number.  That’s cheaper than a soft drink nearly anywhere.  It’s cheaper than a crappy cup of coffee from the vending machine in my office.  And to make things even more impressive keep in mind that none of the ingredients that I used were on sale.  If you were able to score these on sale I think you could drop your total cost per drink down to around $0.65 easily.  Bam! Recession solved…Oh, wait.  No, not really.  At least you’ve got a tasty beverage to keep you going though.

scofflaw
1. One who habitually violates minor laws or fails to answer trivial court summonses (such as parking tickets.)
2. An iconoclast

Per wikitionary the word scofflaw was coined as a  response to a content during prohibition times.  The contest was in search of, Jeopardy style, a word meaning “a lawless drinker of illegally made or illegally obtained liquor”.  The contest offered $200 as the prize and received nearly 25,000 entries.  Not particularly surprising considering that would buy you about 100 pints of alcohol if you could find a bootlegger to sell you some.

The cocktail is clearly named after this newly coined word and, per Gary Regan, the cocktail was created in 1924 by Jock, a bartender at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris.

Scofflaw (Joy of Mixology)

2 oz Bourbon or Straight Rye
1 oz Dry Vermouth
1/2 oz Lemon Juice
1/4 oz Grenadine
Orange Bitters to Taste

1) Combine ingredients in a shaker over ice.
2) Shake until chilled and strain in to a cocktail glass.

I’m excited about this cocktail for a number of reasons.  First, it gives me the opportunity to make some more homemade grenadine.  Sure, I still have some left in my fridge and freezer, but since pomegranates are in season right now I can do it right this go round.  Second, I’m going to pick up a bottle of Noilly Prat dry vermouth.  This may not seem particularly exiciting, but Noilly Prat has recently re-released their original dry vermouth formula for the US market and I’ve been looking forward to giving it a try.  Finally, it’s a bourbon cocktail and it seems like it has been much too long since I featured one.