How to Make a Caipirinha: Classic Caipirinha Recipe

Brazil’s national cocktail, the Caipirinha, is made with lime, sugar, and a sugarcane hard liquor called cachaça—but don’t call it Brazilian rum. Cachaça is a fermented and distilled spirit made from fresh sugarcane juice (different than rum, which is made from molasses). The Caipirinha cocktail takes some muddling in a rocks glass to achieve the right balance of sweet and fruity flavor.

Although a Caipirinha can use any fruit that can be muddled (like passionfruit or kiwi), to make it the true national cocktail of Brazil, the drink recipe must use lime.