Here on the Texas de Brazil blog, we’ve talked a lot about the meats you can find in a Brazilian steakhouse, like the cultural favorite Picanha and the ever-delectable sirloin. We’ve also talked a lot about Brazilian cultural foods, like feijoada, farofa, and pao de queijo.
What we haven’t talked much about yet is the other side of the meal coin: the drinks. Brazilians love their cocktails just as much as any other culture, and there are a few stand-out options that are so good we’ve brought them alongside our Churrasco here to the States.
Below, we’ve listed six of our favorite Brazilian cocktails, plus a bit of information about Brazil’s favorite spirit and a bonus at the end. Read on to learn more!
Table of Contents
What is Cachaca?
By far the most popular distilled spirit in Brazil, cachaca is a common ingredient in Brazilian cocktails. It’s also something that can only be produced in Brazil. Around 1-1.5 billion liters of cachaca are produced each year, and only 1% of it is exported, most of which ends up in Germany.
Cachaca is a distilled spirit made from sugarcane juice. It’s made by adding sugarcane juice to large copper stills, where it is fermented into a spirit. It can be unaged or aged, and you can usually tell the difference by the name. Unaged cachaca is called white/branca or silver/prata, while aged is usually called yellow/amarela or gold/ouro. There’s also a dark cachaca that is meant to be consumed net rather than as part of a cocktail and is deeply aged for anywhere from 3 to 15 years in wooden barrels.
If you’re reading this and you’re thinking, “Hey, this sounds a whole lot like rum,” then you’re kind of right. Rum is also a distilled spirit made from sugarcane, though it’s often made from molasses rather than sugarcane juice. In general, cachaca is made with fresh sugarcane juice and rum is made with molasses, but they’re close enough that cachaca is also known as Brazilian Rum to many. In fact, an international agreement was signed between the United States and Brazil to officially recognize cachaca as a distinct Brazilian product and not just another rum.
#1: Caipirinha
Caipirinha is one of our favorite Brazilian cocktails and is a staple on the drinks menu at every Texas de Brazil. It’ll probably be a staple in your own drinks menu when you’ve had it, too. Originally from Sao Paulo, the cocktail is relatively simple.
- 2 ounces of cachaca
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 1 lime, cut into wedges
Muddle the lime and sugar in a glass, fill it with ice, stir in the cachaca, and garnish with a wheel of lime, and you’re ready to sip. The resulting beverage perfectly marries the flavors of the sugar-based cachaca and the lime and will leave you refreshed and wanting more.
One important note is that you really want to make sure you’re using plain granulated sugar. It’s tempting, if you’re a common cocktail lover, to use a bit of simple syrup instead, but you really lose out if you do. A huge part of what makes the caipirinha work is the sugar being an abrasive to break into and release the lime juices and essential oils. Simple just won’t do the same thing, so your drink will end up a lot more like a sort-of-limey cachaca.
The traditional caipirinha uses white/silver unaged cachaca for a very lime-forward beverage with more grassy notes in the spirit. In fact, a common variation internationally is the caipiroska, which uses vodka instead. It’s not as good, in our opinion, but hey, give it a try if you like; we won’t stop you.
#2: Caju Amigo
One of the ingredients that isn’t as commonly talked about, but is common in Brazilian cuisine and culture, is the humble cashew. In America, these nuts are soft, rich, and delicious, and tend to be more expensive than many other nuts due to how labor-intensive they are to harvest and prepare. Well worth it, even so.
Caju Amigo literally translates to “friendly cashew,” and is a fairly simple shooter mixed with cachaca and cashew juice. You might not think of a nut like a cashew having a juice, but that’s because the nut is just one small part of the whole cashew fruit. The fruit juice has a tropical flavor with hints of citrus and mango and even a bit of an almost green pepper-like flavor, alongside a bit of nuttiness. It’s quite unique. Cashew fruits and nuts are edible, but the shell around the nut is toxic, making it a difficult bit of produce to harvest properly.
Caju Amigo is mixed in a shot glass and served straight. The fine appreciators of the friendly cashew skip the cocktail aspect entirely and make it an experience by taking a slice of the cashew fruit, chewing it without swallowing, and chasing it with a shot of cachaca to make the cocktail right there in the mouth.
#3: Leite de Onca
On the complete opposite end of the spectrum is the leite de onca, also known as jaguar’s milk. A fierce predator like the jaguar must have equally fierce milk, and this cocktail lives up to the hype.
It’s a thick, rich, spiced concoction unlike anything else you’ll have enjoyed before.
- 1 ounce condensed milk
- 1 ounce cocoa liquor
- 1 ounce cream
- 1 ounce cachaca
- Cinnamon to garnish
In a shaker with crushed ice, mix the ingredients and shake well. Strain it into a chilled glass, garnish with cinnamon, and enjoy it.
As a thick, creamy, sweet, lightly spiced beverage, you’ll be surprised at how much like a tasty milkshake this beverage comes across and just how hidden the alcohol can be. Be careful not to over-indulge, lest you be filled with the spirit of the jaguar yourself.
#4: Bloody Carioca
If you’re a fan of elaborate and over-the-top cocktails, you’re very likely familiar with the Bloody Mary. Of course, the American Bloody Mary has grown very much over the top with exotic and extreme garnishes, so much so that it doesn’t really resemble a cocktail so much as a meal balanced precariously on a glass.
A real bloody mary is simply vodka, tomato juice, and spices to give it some kick. A bloody carioca is similar along those lines, and the culture of elaborate garnishes hasn’t tarnished it.
As you can guess, it’s based not on vodka but on cachaca, as is fitting of a Brazilian favorite.
- 2 ounces of cachaca
- 4 ounces of tomato juice
- Half an ounce of passion fruit juice
- Half an ounce of lemon juice
- Half a teaspoon of lime juice
- Dashes of black pepper, celery salt, nutmeg, and sea salt
- Quarter teaspoons of tobacco and Worcestershire sauces
Mix it all together in a shaker with a bar spoon and serve with a stick of cucumber.
The swap from vodka to cachaca, and the addition of passionfruit and a bit of tropical citrus, truly makes this cocktail something unique and special. If you have a taste for tomato juice in your cocktails and you like a bit of spice, give this one a try! You can also frequently find a version that leaves the tobacco out, as Brazilians are famously rather spice-averse outside of the northeast.
#5: Quentao de Vinho
If you’re getting the hang of a bit of Portuguese etymology, you can probably guess what half of this cocktail is already. Vinho, from vine or vino or, you guessed it, wine, is the star of the show of this cocktail.
Quentao, as it’s commonly called, is the “big heat” cocktail in Brazil. It’s enjoyed during the Festas Juninas, the catholic celebrations of rural life that take place in June, though you can also find it whenever the weather is colder. Why? Well, this recipe is a whole lot like what you might find in the States, just under the name “mulled wine.”
Quentao recipes also tend to vary by region and by individual tastes, but our favorite is:
- 1.5 liters of red wine
- 3 cups of water
- 1.5 cups of sugar
- 1 sliced orange
- 1 sliced lime
- 5 whole cloves
- 3 sticks of cinnamon
- 2-3 peels of fresh ginger
- Star anise for garnish
Add the water to a saucepan and mix in the sugar to simmer it. Add the fruit and spices, and simmer the lot on low for half an hour. When that’s done, add in the wine, keep it covered, and simmer for another 10 minutes to heat and mix it all up. When it’s all done, you can strain it into mugs and serve it with a garnish including orange peel, cinnamon sticks, or our favorite, a star anise.
#6: Bossa Nova
The Bossa Nova is named after the dance you’ll find in clubs all throughout Brazil. It’s simple to make, easy to drink, and enough to get you shaking alongside the rest on the dance floor.
This one uses a dark cachaca or a dark rum, depending on which you prefer. Mix it up with some apricot brandy, a bit of galliano, and some lime, pineapple, or a bit of apple juice to round it out. The whole thing is easily shaken up and strained into a glass with ice.
There are a handful of different recipes for the Bossa Nova, but the main difference tends to be which brands of spirits and which fruit juices you use in which proportions. Play around with it and find one you like!
Bonus: Alua
To round things out, let’s talk about another spirit you might find that is delicious but since it’s not a mixed drink, it doesn’t constitute a cocktail for this list. It’s called Alua, it’s a local Brazilian specialty, and it can even be made at home, sometimes. It’s thought that it’s a beverage that predates Portuguese colonization, and may be one of the oldest fermented spirits in South America.
Alua is a fermented fruit wine made throughout Brazil, and it has as many different recipes as there are people who make it. One of the more common recipes is to mix the rinds of a couple of pineapples with water, brown sugar, ginger, and cloves. Leave this mix in the tropical heat for a day or two, and let the juices and sugars ferment naturally. This fermentation produces a little bit of alcohol and a little bit of natural carbonation for a bubbly and light drink. Leaving it longer will make it more and more alcoholic, at least up until the point where it tips over and starts producing vinegar instead.
Variations on alua are even made using stale bread, crushed corn, or other fruits as base ingredients, so there’s a lot of variety. It’s generally served on its own and chilled for a fruity, bubbly, slightly sour drink with a varying amount of alcohol content.
Alua isn’t something you’re going to find in the States, both because it’s so variable and because it really requires tropical weather to produce most effectively. If you’re ever traveling to northern Brazil, though, give it a try!
Come By and Try Brazil’s Favorite Cocktails
At Texas de Brazil, we take great pride in bringing a robust selection of elements of Brazilian culture to the United States and elsewhere around the world. From our rodizio-style churrasco barbecue to our authentic Brazilian farofa and feijoada to the cocktails you can have on the side, you’re sure to have as close to an authentic Brazilian experience as you can outside of Brazil.
So, whether you’re in it for the cachaca, you want to greet the meat, or you’re just looking for a new and interesting experience, you’ve come to the right place. Find your nearest branch and stop on by, make a reservation, or join our eClub for unique deals and discounts you can’t get anywhere else. Whether you’re here for the first time or you’re a frequent visitor, we’d absolutely love to have you stop by.
