Caipirinha

Instructions

1. Cut a lime into quarters and place in a rocks glass.
2. Add sugar and muddle firmly to extract juice and oils.
3. Add cachaça.
4. Fill with crushed ice and stir vigorously.

Notes

The Caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça, a spirit distilled from fresh sugarcane juice (distinct from rum, which uses molasses). Muddling the whole lime, including the peel, releases essential oils that give the drink its aromatic complexity. Use white, unaged cachaça for the classic version.