Lime and Honey Caipirinha

Caipirinha is Brazil's signature drink! It is widely popularized, and the drink of choice when at the beach. Pretty much any beach has people making them and selling them. Yes, you can purchase a drink right at the beach, just a sheer 5 feet from the water. Traditionally Caipirinhas are made using Cachaça, but these days you can order them with vodka, rum, or even sake. It's no secret that Brazil is well known for having an abundant and delicious selection of fresh fruits. It's by far one of my favorite things about Brazil, about half of my diet while there consists of fruit. Caipirinhas can be made with just about any fruit brazil produces, but our most go-to options are always zesty lime or fresh maracujá. Brazil has these special limes which have an orange-colored rind, and they resemble oranges, but they really are limes and are just slightly sweeter than the green limes with which we're all more familiar. Maracujá (passion fruit) is native to South Brazil and is extremely affordable. In most of the US and Europe, passion fruits are treated as a fine delicacy because of their steep price. Another fantastic Caipirinha combination is kiwi fruit and sake, which is very popular in sushi restaurants. 

Let's get back to this recipe, we decided to go for Rum with this one but feel free to swap it out with your alcohol of choice. Marmeleiro was our honey of choice. Traditionally Caipirinhas are made with raw cane sugar, but lately, honey Caipirinhas are becoming more popular. This is an exciting new development! 
 

Servings: 2 cocktails

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

• Two shots of cachaca rum
• 1-2 limes
• 2-4 tsp Brazilian Quince - Marmeleiro (Buy it on Amazon)
  
• Ice cubes

Directions:

1. Using whiskey glasses combine the lime halves or quarters with the honey and use a muddler to gently crush and squeeze out the lime juice from the limes. (If you have trouble getting the honey to mix well with the lime juice, heat up a small amount of water and mix with honey to dilute it before adding it to the limes.)
2. Add the rum and extra lime juice and stir well. Add the crushed ice into the glasses and serve immediately with the garnished slices of limes.