ETHANOL

CAIPIRINHA

São Paulo state, early 1900s.

ROCKS GLASS
ETHANOL 19 G131 KCAL FROM ETHANOL2.3 OZ SERVED

SPEC

2 oz · 60 mlCACHAÇA40 %
4 wedgesLIME
2 cubesSUGAR CUBE

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

METHOD

  1. 01MUDDLE LIME WEDGES + SUGAR IN A ROCKS GLASS
  2. 02ADD CACHAÇA + CRUSHED ICE, STIR
  3. 03NO STRAIN: LIME PULP STAYS IN THE GLASS

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

STRENGTH // WORKED

Pre-batch2 oz mixed with ice, 0.8 oz of it pure alcohol
MeltStirred: +15 % of the pre-batch, +0.3 oz of water
Served2 + 0.3 = 2.3 oz in the glass
Strength0.8 ÷ 2.3 = 34.8 % ABV as served
Ethanol0.8 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 19 g · about 131 kcal from the alcohol alone

IN THE GLASS

DIACETYL

FROM CACHAÇA CANE · the butter note

Formula
C₄H₆O₂
Mass
86.09 g/mol
IUPAC
butane-2,3-dione

The butter note. Wanted in oak-aged Chardonnay and certain ales (English bitter, Czech pilsner) where a controlled amount adds body; unwanted at high concentrations, where it slides into movie-theater-popcorn territory. Yeast produces it as an intermediate during fermentation and reabsorbs it during conditioning. A rushed beer that skipped its conditioning rest often carries diacetyl as an off-flavor the brewer didn't intend.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Daiquiri · Piña Colada · Hemingway Daiquiri · Mary Pickford · El Presidente · Beachcomber · Cuba Libre · Frozen Daiquiri

CITRAL

FROM LIME · the lemon aroma

Formula
C₁₀H₁₆O
Mass
152.24 g/mol
IUPAC
(2E)-3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienal

Lemon's defining note: technically a mix of two geometric isomers (geranial and neral) that read as the same aroma to the nose. Lemon peel, lemongrass, lemon verbena, and Indian chai all carry it. In cocktails it's what a lemon twist contributes that lemon juice can't: the volatile expressed from the oil glands, not the acid from the pulp.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Margarita · Mojito · Daiquiri · Whiskey Sour · Gimlet · Moscow Mule · Paper Plane · Aviation

CHEMISTRY

Cachaça, lime and sugar. Cachaça is distilled from fresh sugarcane juice (not molasses, like most rum) and retains grassy notes that molasses rum lacks. Citral from lime oil is expressed off the wedge peels during the muddle. The national drink of Brazil.

PROVENANCE

The Caipirinha is said to have started as a folk remedy: cachaça with lime, garlic, and honey to treat the 1918 Spanish flu in Paulista farm country. The garlic and honey dropped out as the drink moved from medicine to recreation. The name traces to caipira, Portuguese for a rural countryman from the inland highlands. A 2003 Brazilian decree (No. 4.851) formalized the recipe as cachaça (not rum), lime and sugar, making the Caipirinha one of the few cocktails defined in national law.

RUM // NEARBY

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