From Brasilia to Belo Horizonte, Salvador to São Paulo, Brazilians are united by one thing*: a love for cachaça. Unlike rum (which is made from guarapo) cachaça is made from fermented sugarcane. Collectively, Brazil consumes a whopping 1.5 billion liters of its national liquor annually — that’s 97 times more than the rest of the world put together! Much of this is due to cachaça’s role as the main ingredient in Caipirinha, Brazil’s quintessential cocktail.

Cachaça, lime, sugar and ice are all that go into a simple Cairpirinha, making it one of the easiest drinks to make at home, and the perfect drink to enjoy at the beach, bar or Maracana. Such is Caipirinha’s global popularity that creative variations — from the vodka-based Caipiroska to versions enhanced with crushed fresh fruit — are commonplace. This week you don’t have to hop a flight to Rio to sample some samba: we’ll be sliding into our havaianas and cangas to whip up what our resident paulista Andreia considers the classic interpretation of this delicious and refreshing cocktail. We’ll be using Fazenda Mãe de Ouro cachaça, which comes from São José da Barra in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais. So if you’re tall and tan and young and lovely (or even if you’re not all those things) join us from 5:30pm this Thursday as we bring the Ipanema to 27th Street. Just don’t ask us to perform the capoeira.

Cocktail Hour
CAIPIRINHA
Thursday, August 5
5:30-7:30pm

Tasting is free, no reservation required. For more information please call 212-725-6516 or email info@vinosite.com.

*OK, maybe two things:

I’ll never tire of watching this!