Top 10 Brazilian cocktails

By Bartender

Batidas
This mix of cachaça, fruit, ice and lots of sugar is a favorite in the kiosks that line the Brazilian coast. You name the fruit – maracujá (passion fruit), coco (coconut), morango (strawberry). In fact, caipirinha is just one more type of batida.

The batida (bah-chee-dah) is loosely translated as “beaten”: a cocktail that is either shaken hard or served as a frozen blender drink. They are almost always made with cachaça, fruit, milk, sugar and ice as a base mixture.
The place for the batida is not usually the hotel or fine bar, but rather a barraca (ba-ha-ka, a tent and mobile bar and/or restaurant) on the beach where you can order sodas, beer, beach chairs, iced coconuts etc…and of course a batida made from scratch.

Caipirinha: This is the most famous drink from Brazil and considered the national cocktail. Made with cachaça, sugar and lime juice, it can either be a refreshing cocktail or a strong one that might leave you regretting your purchase. Read our post about caipirinha.

Caipirinha, Caipiroska, Caipiríssima
These days, to order a caipirinha in a bar is no longer that easy. In the menus there are several types of caipirinha, which vary the fruit and alcoholic beverages used.
From a range of fruit, one can choose the traditional lemon, but also equally refreshing strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, passion fruit and orange fruit and even exotic or unusual ones, such as the Chinese lychee, and brasileiríssima jabuticaba. You can also mix different fruits by creating, for example, the red fruit caipirinha (composed of blackberry, strawberry and raspberry) or tropical caipirinha (consisting of pineapple, passion fruit, kiwi and strawberry). What about Caipirinha de Tangerina com Pimenta Dedo-de-moça (tangerine with chilipepper); Caipirinha de Limão c/Gengibre e Cravo (with ginger and cloves)?

After choosing the fruit, you need to define which alcohol is used in the preparation of the caipirinha. Besides the cachaça and aguardente, vodka is also famous as an ingredient in caipirinha, and nowadays it is common to find the Brazilian drink made with sake or rum.

For those who got confused, we set up a beginners caipirinha dictionary:
Caipiríssima is a traditional caipirinha, but made with rum in stead of cachaça.
Caipiroska, also known as Caipivodka, is a traditional caipirinha, but made with vodka in stead of cachaça.
Caipinheger, is a traditional caipirinha, but made with Steinhäger in stead of cachaça.
Saquerinha, is a traditional caipirinha, but made with sake in stead of cachaça.
Caipivinho, is a traditional caipirinha, but made with wine in stead of cachaça.
Caipirão, is a traditional caipirinha, but made with Licor Beirão in stead of cachaça.
Caipirango, is a traditional caipirinha, but made with strawberry in stead of lime.

Caju Amigo: “The Friendly Cashew” combines two of Brazil’s favorite flavors. It is a mixture of cachaça with juice from a cashew nut. Every now and again you can find bars that have a must more entertaining method, which involves chewing a cashew, keeping it in your mouth and then swallowing it with a shot of cachaça.

Capeta
A famous cocktail of the northeast is the Capeta (=little devil). At least it is famous in Brazil. A mixture of cachaça, sweetened condensed milk, guaraná, cinnamon, honey, and Nesquik. The guarana (a berry from the amazon) is a stimulant containing caffeine and is also the base for a very popular soft drink by the same name.

Leite de Onça: “Jaguar Milk” again made with cachaça, it is a combined with milk and served cold. It is usually served in a mug without any garnish so it can easily be mistaken for a mug of normal milk (is that why the kids are always so happy in Brazil).

Aluá : There are several recipes for this drink popular in the Northeast states (Bahia, Ceará and Pernambuco, among others), that may or not be alcoholic. You mix one pinapple´s peel, two litters of water, brown sugar, cloves and grated ginger. The skin of the pineapple should be kept in water for a whole night to get fermented. The longer it remains in water, the more alcoholic the beverage. This water is strained and mixed to the other ingredients.

More to follow.