My Cachaca Drink

My article on new brunch cocktails in the July issue of Out Magazine just came out. Pick it up! (And if you like it, feel free to write a letter to the editor as they kicked me to the curb.)

In the article I mention that the average Bloody Mary usually disappoints- not because it's a bad drink, but because it's hard to get right. Then I suggest a few alternatives. The Michelada is one, the Spanish Coffee, which is huge in Portland, Oregon, is another, and the third is a cocktail called the Mellow A.M..

They neglected to include that I invented the drink (at least I think I did- it's so hard to know if someone else invented the same drink independently), but that's okay because I get to share it with you all.

The Mellow AM
1 ounce Cachaca such as Boca Loca or Pirrasununga 51 (I tried other brands and these two were my favorites)
1 ounce Cranberry Juice
1 ounce Papaya Nectar
1 1/2 ounce Ginger Ale

Build in a tall glass over ice and serve with a straw.

The thing is, I've made the drink at home a zillion times and think it's fan-freeking-tastic, but I don't know of anyone else who has tried it. So if you happen to come across the ingredients, why don't you give it a shot and let me know what you think.

Placement

I was just thinking that if cachaca brands really want to reach a wider audience they need to get hip-hoppers to start drinking it and rapping about it in songs and calling out brands. I'm sure there are lots of words that rhyme with Pirassununga.

I'd like to volunteer my services as an ad director for the campaigns that follow. Here's a slogan I already wrote:

Cachaca- It's the Cachizzle!

Cachacathon

Perhaps the reason last night's dream was about caipirinhas was because last night's cocktail experimentation was with cachaca.

Drink nerds will no doubt have noted the barrage of new brands of cachaca being launched in the US market over the past year and a half. I have four different kinds at home that had been collecting a little bit of dust. The reason is because cachaca brands only really promote the caipirinha; a drink that's just cachaca, lime juice, and simple sugar.

It's just not a drink I enjoy in its standard form. I don't mind a "caipirini," which is basically a caipirinha served up instead of on the rocks, which is actually a daiquiri.

But recently I was trying to invent some new drinks and found a better use for cachaca. The spirit (rum made from sugar cane juice instead of molasses, usually unaged) is usually quite thin and astringent, sort of like vodka but with more flavor. It's got a bit of burn to it, and I think when you put that with lime juice (also thin and acidic) it's too much of the same texture.

On the other hand, when you add cachaca to a thick fruit juice like grapefruit or papaya or even cranberry, it helps lighten the syrup texture of the juice. Eureka!

I was working with a recipe for Out magazine, trying my juice combo cocktail with different quantities of spirit and mixer, and trying out my four brands of cachaca to see which one worked best. I was surprised to find that Leblon was my least favorite in the drink, but this is probably because that product is aged in wood and is the smoothest, classiest cachaca of the bunch. It works better with the thinner lime drinks.

Boca Loca, Agua Luca, and Pirassununga all tasted different in the drink, but I liked them all. (I was surprised at how pronounced the differences between the brands were, as there was only one ounce of cachaca and 3 ounces of juice and other mixers.) In my cocktail Pirassununga was the winner.

Anyway, with the new drink I invented (I'll print it here after it's published elsewhere) being so darn tasty, I have no doubt that the remainders of these bottles of cachaca won't be around too much longer. Then I'll have to sample some of the other new brands that have hit the market.

Caipirinha, The Musical

As I think about drinks all day then have a drink to relax at night, it's no wonder that cocktails sometimes invade my sleep too. Most often that's in the form of stressful dreams, but last night was a fun one. I dreamt I was watching a movie called Caipirinha! in which muddling a caipirinha would release some sort of happy magic and everyone in the room would shout "Caipirinha!"

It should go without saying that this was a feel-good movie.