🥃 Caipirinha
Brazilian cocktail of cachaça, lime and sugar built over cracked ice; the 2009 Brazilian drinks regulation describes it as a typical drink of 15–36% ABV.
Caipirinha is a Brazilian cocktail of cachaça, lime and sugar, built in the glass over cracked ice. The International Bartenders Association (IBA) lists it in its Contemporary Classics category.
IBA recipe. 60 ml cachaça, one lime cut into small wedges and four teaspoons of white cane sugar. The lime and sugar are muddled gently in a double old fashioned glass, the glass is filled with cracked ice, the cachaça is added and everything is stirred gently. The IBA names no garnish. It lists three variations: Caipiroska with vodka instead of cachaça, Caipirissima with rum, and Caipirão with Licor Beirão.
Brazilian regulation. Article 68, paragraph 5 of the drinks regulation approved by Decree No. 6.871 of 4 June 2009 (original text) says that a mixed drink of 15 to 36% ABV made with cachaça, lime and sugar may be called caipirinha, a typical drink of Brazil. Decree No. 4.851 of 2 October 2003, which Decree No. 6.871 revoked, had defined caipirinha as a typical Brazilian drink of 15 to 36% ABV at 20 °C, made exclusively with cachaça, lime and sugar. Article 53 of the 2009 regulation defines cachaça as the typical and exclusive name of the sugarcane spirit produced in Brazil, of 38 to 48% ABV, to which up to six grams of sugar per litre may be added.
Alcohol. 60 ml of cachaça at 38 to 48% ABV contains roughly 18 to 23 g of pure alcohol. The WHO states that no level of alcohol consumption is safe for health.
Facts
| Legal basis | Brazil, Decree No. 6.871/2009, Art. 68 §5 (original text): cachaça, lime and sugar, 15–36% ABV |
|---|---|
| Raw material | cachaça (60 ml), lime, white cane sugar, cracked ice (IBA recipe) |
| Alcohol (% vol.) | 15–36% ABV under the 2009 Brazilian regulation |
How it connects to Spirits
🥃 Caipirinha → similar → 🌴 Rum and sugarcane spirits → kind of → 🥃 Spirits
Links
- Made from
- 🍬 Sugar
- What it affects
- 🍷 Alcohol and health, 🍷 Drunk driving
- Traditions
- 🌍 Latin America
- Part of
- 🥃 Cachaça
- Similar and different
- 🥃 Poncha, 🌴 Rum and sugarcane spirits, 🥃 Cuba Libre, 🥃 Cosmopolitan
Frequently asked questions
What goes into a caipirinha according to the IBA?
60 ml cachaça, one lime cut into small wedges and four teaspoons of white cane sugar, muddled gently in a double old fashioned glass, topped with cracked ice and stirred.
Can a caipirinha be made with vodka or rum?
The IBA lists Caipiroska (vodka), Caipirissima (rum) and Caipirão (Licor Beirão) as variations. The Brazilian regulation ties the name caipirinha to cachaça.
What strength does the Brazilian regulation give for a caipirinha?
15 to 36% ABV: Art. 68 §5 of Decree No. 6.871/2009 (original text); the earlier Decree No. 4.851/2003 gave the same range at 20 °C.
How does the 2009 regulation define cachaça?
As the typical and exclusive name of the sugarcane spirit produced in Brazil, of 38 to 48% ABV, with up to six grams of sugar per litre allowed (Art. 53).
What to read next
- 🍷 Alcohol and health — Alcohol in any drink is harmful in large amounts, and the risks grow with the quantity.
- 🌴 Rum and sugarcane spirits — Rum is a distillate of molasses or sugar cane juice, from 37.5% vol.; cachaça is a separate Brazilian spirit.
- 🌍 Latin America — A region from Mexico to the south of South America: about 9% of the world's milk, dulce de leche and fresh cheeses, Argentine and Chilean wines, olives.
- 🥃 Poncha — Traditional drink of the island of Madeira: Madeira rum (aguardente de cana) is mixed with honey or sugar and fruit juice, usually lemon; made to order.
- 🥃 Cuba Libre — Long drink of white rum, cola and lime juice in a highball glass with ice (IBA, Contemporary Classics); by the best-known version, it appeared in Havana in 1900.
Similar
🥃 Daiquiri · 🥃 Hemingway Special · 🥃 Dark 'n' Stormy · 🥃 Irish Coffee · 🥃 Cuba Libre · 🥃 Espresso Martini
Sources
- IBA — International Bartenders Association: Caipirinha (Contemporary Classics; 60 ml cachaça, 1 lime in small wedges, 4 teaspoons white cane sugar; muddle, cracked ice, double old fashioned glass; variations Caipiroska, Caipirissima, Caipirão)
- Decreto nº 6.871, de 4 de junho de 2009 (Brazil), original publication, Câmara dos Deputados: Art. 53 (cachaça, 38–48 % vol, up to 6 g/l sugar); Art. 68 § 5º (caipirinha, 15–36 % vol); Art. 3º revokes Decreto 4.851/2003
- Decreto nº 4.851, de 2 de outubro de 2003 (Brazil), original publication, Câmara dos Deputados: Art. 81 § 4º of the Regulamento (Decreto 2.314/1997) defines caipirinha, 15–36 % vol at 20 °C
- WHO/Europe: No level of alcohol consumption is safe for our health (04.01.2023)