This is ded­i­cated to Rio’s win of the 2016 games. Caipir­inha is Brazil’s national drink; it is usu­ally made using limes, which are some­what sour. I was look­ing to do some­thing a lit­tle dif­fer­ent with the fruit from my cala­masi trees this week­end. So cala­mansi is the per­fect cit­rus fruit to give this tra­di­tional drink a lit­tle makeover. My cala­mansi trees have been grow­ing very well this year and have given about 3 har­vests each. Things slow down a lit­tle in the win­ter, but they do con­tinue to grow.  Calamasi’s taste in between a kumquat and a tan­ger­ine. They are very sour with a sub­tle sweet­ness, so this drink has a good bal­ance between sour and sweet with­out hav­ing any hint of syrupyness.

Cachaça is essen­tial to the obtain­ing the cor­rect flavour for this drink if you choose to add alco­hol. If you do not have access to cachaça, rum is the clos­est sub­sti­tute. How­ever the dif­fer­ence is taste is notice­able. Cachaça is made is made directly from sugar cane, while rum is a by prod­uct of the sugar mak­ing process. For this mix drink use a clear cachaça as you would a clear rum. You will need

• 4 ounces water
• leaves from 1 sprig of mint
• 2 tsp. f gran­u­lated sugar
• 1/2 to 1 tsp. cachaça (optional)
• 3 tsp. cala­mansi juice
• 2 small ice cubes

Squeeze the cala­masi juice into a small glass, then add the gran­u­lated sugar and mint leaves. Using a spoon mash the mint leaves into the sugar. This wil also help the sugar dis­solve. Add the shot of cachaça, then the ice cubes. Next fill the glass with water and stir. Serve immediately.

Cachaca