Classic Cocktail Of The Month: Caipirinha

Ever spirit has its quintessential cocktail that accompanies it: gin, the Martini; rum, the Daiquiri; tequila, the Margarita, and so on. For cachaca, that cocktail is the Caipirinha. A cocktail that is believed to out date the Martini, Daiquiri, and Margarita, the Caipirinha essentially is a cachaca sour that dates back over two hundred years. Like many cocktails that old, the Caipirinha was constructed in order to round out the sharp edges of the harsh cachaca of the time.


Finally seeing popularity outside of its home country of Brazil, the Caipirinha, along with cachaca, is now becoming a popular drink in many bars.



Caipirinha

- 2 oz Cachaca

- 1 oz Lime Juice

- 2 Teaspoons Raw Sugar

- Cut a lime into eighths and add 5/8 to the bottom of a rocks glass

- Muddle Lime to extract lime juice and oils

- Add Sugar and spirit to rocks glass

- Mix Cachaca, lime, and sugar until sugar is almost entirely dissolved

- Top with crushed ice and churn drink with bar spoon

- No Garnish necessary

Caipirinha

This month's twist on our classic, The Kiko (named after my favorite guitarist from Brazil), doesn't stray too far from the original.  The simple addition of a flavored syrup, and a dash of bitters adds a new layer to this Brazilian classic.

Kiko

- 2 oz Cachaca

- 1 oz Lime Juice

- 1/2 oz Blueberry Rosemary Syrup

- 1 Dash of Bittermens Tiki Bitters

- Cut a lime into eighths and add 5/8 to the bottom of a rocks glass

- Muddle Lime to extract lime juice and oils

- Add syrup and spirit to rocks glass

- Mix Cachaca, lime, and syrup until sugar is almost entirely dissolved

- Top with crushed ice and churn drink with bar spoon

- Garnish with lime, and a rosemary sprig

* Blueberry Rosemary Syrup
- 1 Cup Blueberries
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Water

- Add all ingredients to sauce pan on low-medium heat
- Let syrup simmer for approximately 30 minutes
- Macerate berries while stirring syrup
- Let cool
- Strain out seeds with fine mesh strainer
- bottle and store in fridge

Chai-Maple Old Fashioned

Art of the Cocktail's weekly challenges continue, and week #4 was sponsored by Marker's Mark.  For this week challenge I wanted to keep things very simple, so decided to do a twist on a timeless class, the Old Fashioned.

As I may have mentioned previous blog posts, I tend to go through different phases when it comes to creating cocktails.  The particular phase I happened to be going through at the time, fittingly, was chai tea infused bourbon.  The addition of a bit of maple syrup and black walnut bitters made for a winner cocktail; literally, my Chai-Maple Old Fashioned took home 1st place in this week's Art of The Cocktail challenge!

Chai-Maple Old Fashioned
- 2 oz Silk Road Herbal Chai Infused Maker's Mark *
- 1/4 oz Maple Syrup
- 3 Dashes Fee Brothers Black Walnut Bitters
- Orange Zest


- Add bottle of mixing glass and gently muddle to extract oils
- Add bourbon, maple syrup, and bitters to mixing glass
- Add ice and stir for approximately 20 seconds
- Garnish with flamed orange zest

Silk Road Herbal Chai Infused Maker's Mark *
- 4 oz Maker's Mark
- 1 Tablespoon Silk Road Herbal Chai Tea

- Add bourbon and tea to air tight jar and allow to infuse for only an hour and a half
- Strain through fine mesh strainer and bottle

Note:  Do not let the chai tea infuse for any longer 2 hours at the absolute maximum, otherwise the natural bourbon flavors will be completely lost, and all you'll have is an incredibly spicy chai flavored spirit.

To see the judges' runners-up, along with their thoughts on my winning cocktail, view the video below.

Week #5 is sponsored by every bartender's favorite, Fernet Branca.

For more information of the weekly challenges and Art of The cocktail, visit www.ArtofTheCocktail.ca 

Overture of Summer

The 3rd week of Art of The Cocktail's cocktail challenge was sponsored by Victoria Gin.  A floral gin with a big hit of citrus, Victoria Gin lends its self well to both classic, and modern style of drinks.

For this past week's challenge I opted to accent the floral and citrus notes of Victoria Gin by created a refreshing summer-time cocktail.

Overture of Summer
- 2 oz Victoria Gin
- 1/4 oz Strega
- 3/4 oz Lemon Juice
- 1/2 oz Lavender Infused Honey Syrup *
- 3 Dashes Victoria Bitter and Twisted Orange Bitters


- Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker
- Add ice and shake
- Double strain into chilled cocktail glass
- Garnish with lemon twist

*Lavender Infused Honey Syrup
- 1/2 Cup Honey
- 1 Cup Water
- 10 Lavender flowers


- Add all ingredients to sauce pan over low-medium heat
- Simmer for 20 minutes, while stirring and skimming any foam that may form off the top of syrup
- Let cool and strain through fine mesh strainer
- Bottle and store at room temperature.


To check out the judge's thoughts on the winner of week #3 challenge, as well as their person favorites, check out the video below.

Check back later this week for my recipe for week #4 challenge, sponsored by Maker's Mark.

For more information about the weekly challenges, as well as Art of The Cocktail, check out artofthecocktail.ca

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A Tiki Taboo

The Art of The Cocktail weekly cocktail contests continue, and the spirit of choice for week #2 was Okanagan Spirts Taboo Absinthe.  Absinthe is not a spirit I mix with frequently because it's such a tough spirit to integrate well.  Even when I do mix with absinthe it's a barspoon here and rinse there.  But for this challenge I wanted to show off the natural sweetness of absinthe, and what better way to do so than with a tiki cocktail!

A Tiki Taboo
- 1 oz Taboo Absinthe
- 1 oz Gin
- 1/2 oz St. Germain
- 1 oz Lime Juice
- 2 oz Pineapple Juice
- 3/4 Basil Infused Simple Syrup *


- Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker
- Add ice and shake hard
- Dump entire contains of shaker into tiki glass
- top glass with crushed ice
- garnish with pineapple leaves, lime wheel, mint, paper umbrella, etc...(it is a tiki drink after all)

A Tiki Taboo

* Basil Infused simple syrup
- 1/2 Cup Sugar
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 18-24 basil leaves


- Add ingredients to sauce pan on low-medium heat
- let syrup simmer for approximately 20 minutes, stirring periodically to ensure all sugar is dissolved
- let cool and strain out basil
- Bottle and store in fridge


Here is a video on the judge's thoughts on all entries.

Week #3 spirit challenge was sponsored by Victoria Spirits' 

Victoria Gin. Check back monday for my recipe, and be sure to submit your own cocktail for future challenges.

Visit http://artofthecocktail.ca/ for more information.