Caipirinha Recipe

[Photograph: Vicky Wasik]

Think of the caipirinha as the daiquiri's Brazilian cousin.

The basic trio of ingredients is the same, with both drinks made with fresh lime, sugar and sugarcane-based spirit. But while the daiquiri uses rum as its base—typically of the light, crisp Cuban style—the caipirinha uses rum's Brazilian relative, cachaça, which has a somewhat more rustic aroma and flavor. And while the daiquiri opts for tarting up the drink using only the juice of the lime, the caipirinha throws the whole shebang into the mix.

A relative novelty only a decade ago, the caipirinha is now ubiquitous across the country, and is one of the most popular drinks worldwide.