Cocktail Hour: Caipiroska

I'm just back from Brazil and thought I'd share my drink of the moment. The Caipiroska is the (slightly more) sensible cousin of the devilish Brazilian national drink, the Caipirinha.

The Caipirinha is made with the local Cahaca liqueur - a rather vicious sugar cane spirit. I can quite honestly tell you that you haven't had a hangover until you've had a Cahaca hangover. It is delicious though.

Lately though, imported vodka has been getting pretty big in Brazil, with most of the bars touting Caipiroskas, or Cairpirinhas made with vodka instead of Cahaca. It's the perfect way to get into the Brazilian party spirit on home turf, without having to go hunting for obscure ingredients and with a much less painful morning after. It's still pretty strong though. You have been warned.

Caipiroska (makes 1)

You'll need:

• 100ml vodka (or however much fills your glass!)
• 1 lime
• 3 tsp caster sugar
• Crushed ice
• A muddler (or the end of a rolling pin or pestle)
• Short glass, wide enough for your chosen muddler to fit in.

Shake it!

• First wash your lime, you're going to be putting the whole thing in your drink so you don't want any creepy crawlies in there. Cut the ends off, halve it, then cut each half into a few smaller slices.
• Bung the sliced lime into your glass so it fills the bottom.
• Add 2tsp of the sugar.
• Muddle the lime and sugar - in other words bash it around a bit to release the juice and aroma of the lime.
• Fill the glass up with crushed ice.
• Sprinkle over the remaining sugar and fill the glass with vodka.
• Enjoy! But not on a school night.

Flickr image from Mawel's photostream.