This Week in Home Cocktailing August 7, 2016 Part II

In my last post This Week in Home Cocktailing August 7, 2016 Part I, I described the preparation of the Watermelon Shrub portion of the Confederados cocktail, as well as, the Jean Harlow cocktail. For this post, I focus on the Confederados cocktail with a bonus Caipirinha mixed in while the 2016 Rio Olympics play in the background.

As I stated in the last post, the Confederados Cocktail recipe was found on the Imbibe Magazine website. The recipe comes courtesy of Julian Goglia of The Pinewood Tippling Room in Decatur, Georgia. Allow me to inject a little historical background here courtesy of my alter-ego HistorySisco (Instagram @HistorySisco).

In Brazil, the Confederados are descendants of many a Southerner who as part of the Confederate States of America fled the country to Brazil when the Civil War was lost. The Confederados built up their community in unexplored land in Brazil based on land grants given to them by Emperor Dom Pedro II. For more information on the Confederados and their yearly celebration in Brazil, I recommend you read Meet Brazil's 'Confederados': They've forgotten how to speak English but the South American descendants of rebels who fled US after the Civil War still turn out by the thousands to celebrate their Dixie roots by the Associated Press from the UK Daily Mail website dated 27 April 2015.

Now I can't definitvely say that this is the reason why the Confederados cocktail is named the way it is. But the connection can be made between the name, the base spirit used (cachaça) and the location of the bar/restaurant where it was invented. Be that as it may, let's move on to the cocktail.

Cachaça is an interesting spirit to play with. Cachaça has a very interesting flavor profile to it. Some have described it as tasting "funky." From what I have read, this might be due to the fact that it is made using sugar cane juice instead of the traditional molasses that is used to make its cousin: Rum. Keeping that in mind, allow me to elaborate on the cocktail itself.

I had Momma-San give it a quick taste. She said that the cocktail went down "a little hot" but that overall it was pretty refreshing. I would say her description is accurate. This cocktail was hitting notes all over the palate. The "hotness" she felt was the balsamic vinegar part of the shrub which paired nicely with the sweetness found both in the shrub but also in the simple syrup. There was also a fresh tart taste from the muddled lime and a subtle fruitiness from the watermelon. The cachaça was definitely present, just swimming around the other ingredients. It was ironic that I used the terms swimming since I was watching the Olympic swimming on the boob tube. It was so refreshing that I put down three of them. Here is my YouTube video tasting the Confederados Cocktails.

But I wasn't done yet.

I would be remiss to do a post on Cachaça and not make the national drink of Brazil: The Caipirinha. In the past I've written a couple of posts on the Caipirinha:  Homemade Caipirinhas with Leblon Cachaça and Strawberry Caipirinhas so this isn't quite uncharted territory. This time I used the recipe found in the June 15, 2015 Esquire Magazine article How to Make a Caipirinha by David Wondrich.

Caipirinha Ingredients
1/2 lime(s)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
2 ounces cachaca
old-fashioned glass
Instructions:
Slice the lime into 1/2-inch rounds, cube them, and muddle them in an Old-Fashioned glass or small tumbler with the sugar. Add a couple of ice cubes. Pour in the cachaça. Serve with a stirring rod.  

I found the Caipirinha to be a bit tart for my taste. I added an extra 1/4-1/2 tsp of sugar to the drink and found it to be balanced. Truly a nice, refreshing way to end the evening's Olympic festivities. Here is the video for the Caipirinha:

With this week's work schedule being altered due to vacations, I'm not quite sure what I will do in terms of home cocktailing. I have a few ideas, hopefully time will let me execute them.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
SiscoVanilla
#SiscoVanilla
#SiscoVanillaAtTheMovies
#SiscoVanillaAtTheBookstore

Strawberry Caipirinhas

In a bit of a twist from my last post, I decided to make a fruity kind of Caipirinha this time around. Having bought strawberries the other day, a Strawberry Caipirinha sounded like something I wanted to try. For this cocktail, I decided to fiddle around with the original recipe that I used for the Caipirinha and came up with the following:

Strawberry Caipirinha
2 oz. Leblon Cachaça
2 tsp. superfine sugar
1 large or 2 small strawberries cut into quarters
1/2 lime, cut into wedges

Muddle the strawberries, lime and sugar in a shaker. Fill the shaker with ice and add Leblon Cachaça. Shake vigorously and strain into a rocks glass. Add the lime pieces and some of the muddled strawberry and add ice. Stir.

The first attempt had too many strawberry pieces in the cocktail making it very chunky. I found that straining the cocktail into the glass and adding a few pieces of muddled strawberries with the lime pieces from the mixing glass and ice afterwards made for a cocktail that was easier to drink. I like the light fruitiness that the strawberries give the Caipirinha. I found the original Caipirinha to be light but the muddled fruit gives the cocktail a bit of body.

This is a good cocktail to have in this summer-like weather we are currently having in NYC. I've seen a few recipes for a Kiwi Caipirinha online. Luckily for me I also bought some Kiwi fruit the other day.

My next post will be a variation of a cocktail recipe that was posted by Ginny Tonic: Strawberry Bourbon Fizz.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
Sisco Vanilla

Homemade Caipirinhas with Leblon Cachaça

In my last post I made mention that Caipirinhas are "...quite easy to make so its surprising that someone would get it wrong". Well add me to that list folks. I decided to make three different Caipirinhas to see which one would taste the best. One utilized Splenda instead of sugar and was shaken. The second one had sugar and was shaken. The third contained sugar and was stirred. The reason why I decided to stir the last one was that there is a bit of a debate on whether a Caipirinha should be shaken or stirred.

Apparently the custom is to stir them in Brazil since they tend to use a sugar that is finer compared to the sugar that is used here in the United States. Our sugar tends to be coarser and takes longer to dissolve. I'm not sure how accurate that is. For more information on Cachaça, check out the article Step Away From The Lime, sir... from Imbibe magazine's July/August 2008 issue. Back to my Caipirinhas.

I made the Caipirinhas with the basic measurements of a half of lime cut into quarters with the piths removed, two teaspons of sugar/sweetner, ice and two ounces of Leblon Cachaça. For the Splenda version, I found it not to be sweet enough. The lime juice overpowered the cocktail making it much more tart than the Caipirinha should be. The second cocktail with sugar and shaken was a much more balanced Caipirinha. The key is to shake it thoroughly, for at least 10 seconds so as to have proper sugar incorporation with the other ingredients. The third one with sugar and stirred was not as balanced as the second one but a bit sweeter than the first. I guess I would have to stir it for a longer period in order to get the sugar dissolved properly. For my personal tastes I would shake it here at home. I much rather preferred the result I got with the sugar and shaking it. Some Caipirinha purists out there will be cursing me out. Oh well, join the club ;)

Here is the final recipe for the Caipirinha:

Caipirinha
2 oz. Leblon Cachaça
2 tsp. superfine sugar
1/2 lime, cut into wedges

Muddle the lime and sugar in a shaker. Fill the shaker with ice and add Leblon Cachaça. Shake vigorously and serve in a rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

I forgot to garnish it with a lime wheel, but I promise that if I make one for you, I'll garnish it with the wheel. Deal?

One last thing, I found something interesting in the article. One of the bartenders that they ask from Mokoko in St Albans uses granulated brown sugar rather than white sugar. Why? Apparently the brown sugar adds a level of earthiness that is missing in white sugar. They say it matches earthy flavors in the cachaça. I guess I have to experiment with some brown sugar.

The next post will be about the Strawberry Caipirinha that I made after the regular Caipirinha. Keep an eye open for it.

Until Then Happy Drinking,
Sisco Vanilla

Leblon Cachaça

I saw that Union Square Wines was doing a tasting with Leblon Cachaça this past Saturday in the hours before I had to be at work and since I am doing my walking regiment again, I decided to swing by there on my way to walking from Union Square to work.

For those of you who might not be familiar with Cachaca, here is how the website for Leblon describes it:

Welcome to Leblon Cachaça. We created Leblon Cachaça for anyone who wants to discover this great new spirit at its best. Cachaça, the third most-consumed spirit in the world,is the key ingredient to the Caipirinha, Brazil’s national drink. Cachaça (ka-SHAH-sa) is made from fresh-pressed cane juice fermented and distilled, and can only come from Brazil.

The representatives for Leblon Cachaça had three different spirits they were showcasing. One was the flagship Leblon Cachaça that they were serving in the classic Brazilian cocktail known as the Caipirinha. The second was a darker Cachaça that is aged in oak casks for a period of about two years called Maison Leblon - Reserva Especial. The third was called Cedilla Açai Liqueur. For sake of sobriety, I only sampled the Leblon Cachaça Caipirinha and the Maison Leblon - Reserva Especial. I'll talk about the Reserva Especial first then the Caipirinha.

The Reserva Especial is a darker spirit than the clear Cachaça. This is due to its being aged for a up to two years in French oak casks. According to the Leblon webiste:

The new Leblon product combines the flavor of the best tasting cane with the aroma and quality of the finest French oak.  Tastes great neat or over ice. This special distillate is aged up to two years in the highest grade new Limousin French oak and expertly blended by Distiller Gilles Merlet. Single batch distilled in alambique potstills, the result is a complex smooth spirit with notes of honey, caramel, and pine nuts.

It has the consistency of a Cognac or Brandy without it being very strong. The spirit was surprisingly smooth and not as sweet as I thought it would be. It was quite delicious.

Next came the Caipirinha. Now I have had a couple of Caipirinhas before. The problem with them is that if they are made wrong, it can be a difficult cocktail to drink. Too much sugar makes it too sweet. Not enough sugar and it is too tart. It is quite easy to make so its surprising that someone would get it wrong. Here is the recipe for

The Leblon Caipirinha
2 oz. Leblon Cachaça
2 tsp. superfine sugar or 1 oz. simple syrup
1/2 lime, cut into wedges

Muddle the lime and sugar in a shaker. Fill the shaker with ice and add Leblon Cachaça. Shake vigorously and serve in a rocks glass. Garnish with a lime wheel.

The Caipirinha that was served to me was perfect. Not too sweet and not too tart. It was very light and balanced. Since it sat in a pitcher with the limes included, the cocktail had little pieces of lime which gave it a little body. I liked it so much I bought myself a bottle to make some Caipirinha's this summer. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Here are two videos on how to make a Caipirinha. One is from Leblon (BTW, I think the woman in the video was the one of the representatives from Leblon at the tasting). The other is from cucabrazuca.com. The difference in the two videos is that in the second video, the presenter cuts the ends off of the limes, removes the pith from the middle of the lime, cuts them into smaller pieces and stirs it instead of shaking it as in the first video.  Enjoy.





Until Then Happy Drinking,
Sisco Vanilla