Just because you didn’t get tickets to World Cup 2014, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy the festivities with a flavorful Brazilian cocktail. In São Paulo, fans head to bars like São Cristovão, located in Vila Madalena, which is filled with football memorabilia, as well as stylish bars at hip properties like Hotel Unique, a member of Design Hotels, and the Hilton São Paulo Morumbi, to imbibe and celebrate the latest victories (or perhaps drown their sorrows from the latest losses).
I’ve found a couple tasty cocktail recipes from Brazil that can help you create your own festive atmosphere for the next game. And if you you need still more ideas from a bit further north, scroll below to find some of the newest cocktails to debut in one of Puerto Rico‘s most stylish restaurants, and also check out LatinFlyer’s own book, Mexican Cocktails: Libations & Inspiration from Top Hotels, Bars & Restaurants around Mexico — it costs just $2.99 for the eBook version!
Traditional Caipirinha Recipe
Brazil’s most famous cocktail can be made many different ways (although always with cachaça, the distilled alcoholic beverage made from sugarcane products). Here is the official recipe from the International Bartenders Association.
• 5 cl cachaça
• Half a lime cut into 4 wedges
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
Preparation: Place lime and sugar into old fashioned glass and muddle (mash the two ingredients together using a muddler or a wooden spoon). Fill the glass with crushed ice and add the cachaça.
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Caipicopa — A Creative World Cup Concoction from Hotel Unique
To honor the World Cup, the bartenders at the Skye Bar — an ultra-cool venue at Hotel Unique in Sao Paulo — combined the words “caipirinha” and “copa” to create the Caipicopa.
The Caipicopa is concocted with super premium cachaça Yaguara, with the following ingredients:
• 50 ml passionfruit pulp
• 1/2 lemon
• dedo de moça pepper
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Hexa — New Cocktail from the Hilton São Paulo Morumbi
The Hilton São Paulo Morumbi‘s Canvas Bar and Restaurant features a special World Cup themed culinary and creative cocktail menu. Bartender Rodman Paixão created the Hexa cocktail, which represents the hope and confidence that Brazil will take home their 6th World Cup win. Rodman wanted to create something tasteful with a cool look of the Green and Yellow colors that represent the Brazilian flag.
Here’s what you need: Bacardi Limon Ron, lychee, lemon juice, Midori (melon liquor) and for the yellow color one ice ball made of peach juice (peach in can)
Preparation: In a mixer, macerate the lychee add the lemon juice, ron and the melon liquor with a lot of ice and shake , double strain and serve in a Y glass—put the ice ball over the drink. To make the Ice ball you should make a juice in a blender, strain ,serve in an Ice ball maker and freeze for four to six hours.
Tropical Fruit Caipirinha
Ponta dos Ganchos, the luxury Brazil beach resort located near Florianopolis, has created its own variation on the classic caipirinha. The drink is mixed with the intention of representing all things Brazil- the colors, different cultures, World Cup energy, and of course caipirinha.
Ingredients:
• 1 Passion Fruit
• 1 Cajun
• 1 Lime
• 1 Lemon
• 1 Strawberry
• 1 Spoon of sugar
• 1 shot of Cachaça Gancheira (exclusive for Ponta dos Ganchos)
• Crushed Ice
Preparation: Muddle all the fruits with the sugar. Add crushed ice to fill the glass and add the cachaça
LATIN COCKTAIL EXTRA
New Puerto Rican Cocktails on the Scene
Brazil isn’t the only place crafting interesting new cocktails. In Puerto Rico, Latin-Asian restaurant Budatai, owned by Chef Robert Treviño and Francisco de Juan, recently unveiled a new cocktail menu that blends tropical style with Asian influences. It just might be reason enough to jump on a plane to Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport yet again.
The new menu is made with Worldclass COLLECTION luxury spirits: the Premium vodka Ketel One and Ketel One Citroën, Ciroc, tequila Don Julio Blanco and Don Julio Reposado, Gin Tanqueray No. Ten, and whisky Johnnie Walker Scotch. It also includes famous whisky Johnnie Walker Gold Reserve, Platinum and Blue.
Budatai’s resident mixologists Jennifer Garcia and Manuel Cornier designed a menu of seven new cocktails. Among the choices are a “hot” version of a margarita called Firecraker Margarita, with Tequila Don Julio Reposado; Salt ‘n’ Pepper Collins with vodka Ciroc; a Martini called Rubytini with Ketel One vodka; Iced Ketel Kolada, which is Budatai’s version of a Piña Colada; Buda-Mai-Tai, with Ron Zacapa 23; the C’est la Vie, with Tanqueray No. 10 Gin, and Scotch Honey Sour with Johnnie Walker Black.