Cherry Cachaca Crush

• June 28, 2017
• no comments

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If you haven’t heard of Cachaca before, chances are you have never enjoyed the rejuvenating taste of a traditional Brazilian cocktail called Caipirinha. And that is something we would like to change this summer. Made with muddled lime, sugar, crushed ice and a sugar cane liquor Cachaca (pronounced Kachaza), caipirinhas are super refreshing and easy to make, but this is still one cocktail that is definitely overlooked.

Now, it’s not like we ever need an excuse to have a cocktail around here, but with wretchedly high temperatures this summer, we thought sipping on a Caipirinha (or in this case variation of it) might be the perfect way to revive ourselves, get a break from the torching hot sun and introduce you to something new and exciting.

But a regular Caipirinha, as good as it is, just didn’t have enough oomph to make our blog…yes, we are special like that 🙂 Not to mention we had some farmer’s market goodies waiting for us in the fridge.

Three days ago we made this cocktail syrup with fresh cherries we picked up from the farmer’s market. And now, that we had plenty left unused, it was the perfect time to combine our love for cherries, cocktails, and Cachaca with the eagerness to cool down and take some deserved time off…Enter the Cherry Caipirinha Crush.

Not following the traditional muddled lime/sugar Caipirinha recipe, we tweaked the cocktail just a bit with fresh arugula and agave nectar. And while you probably already know from reading our blog that we are not huge fans of muddling fruit, this cocktail just had to make an exception. We tried the mixture with both freshly pressed cherry juice and with muddled cherries. While both ways tasted equally good, the interesting presentation of the “muddled way” was too eye-catching to pass on. And there is nothing wrong with looking good, right?

Simple yet captivating, we hope you can enjoy this cocktail on a hot summer day before cherries start disappearing from the produce rack again.

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Cherry Cachaca Crush

Ingredients

• 2 oz Leblon Cachaca
• 0.75 oz Fresh Lime Juice
• 0.50 oz Agave Syrup
• 5-6 leaves Arugula
• 6 Tart Pitted Cherries
• Club Soda

Instructions

1. Remove the pits from 5-6 cherries and muddle them in a tall glass

2. In a cocktail shaker pour all the ingredients except cherries and Club Soda, add cubed ice and shake vigorously for 15-20 seconds

3. Fill the tall glass (serving glass) with crushed ice and fine strain the cocktail over. Top with club soda and more crushed ice to form a nice "dome"

4. Garnish with a fresh cherry and arugula leaf

Recipe Notes

 

Cachaca

If you don't have Cachaca, which is a sugar cane liquor, quality white rum would do the trick.

Crushed Ice

As we mentioned before, we are huge fans of crushed ice in summer drinks. The easiest and cheapest way to get instant crushed ice is by using this portable hand crank ice crusher you can find on Amazon. This is one gadget you can use all the time so believe me when I say it's worth the investment. However, if you are really reluctant to spend the money for it, cubed ice would still work for this drink, but it just won't look as good!

 

So cheers to another bar quality cocktail you can make at home!