Brazilian Caipirinha, Lime and Cachaça Cocktail

📍 Where this dish comes from: Rio de Janeiro · Copacabana Beach
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The caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail: fresh lime muddled with sugar, topped with cachaça and plenty of ice. It is tart, strong and incredibly refreshing on a hot day. A spoonful of allulose replaces the sugar without changing the drink at all.

Per serving: 142 calories · 2.4 g net carbs · 0 g protein · 0 g fat (calculated from the ingredients)

What You’ll Need

Brazilian Caipirinha, Lime and Cachaça Cocktail

The caipirinha is Brazil's national cocktail: fresh lime muddled with sugar, topped with cachaça and plenty of ice. It is tart, strong and incredibly refreshing on a hot day. A spoonful of allulose replaces the sugar without changing the drink at all.

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Prep Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 5 minutes minutes

Course: Beverage

Cuisine: Brazilian

Servings: 1 servings

Calories: 142kcal

Ingredients

• 1 lime cut into 8 wedges, white center core removed
• 2 teaspoons allulose or to taste
• 2 ounces cachaça
• 1 cup crushed ice

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Instructions

• Remove the white pith from the center of the lime, which makes the drink bitter, and cut the lime into 8 wedges.
• Put the lime wedges and allulose in a sturdy short glass and press firmly with a muddler 5 or 6 times to release the juice. Do not grind the peel, or it will turn bitter.
• Fill the glass with crushed ice and pour in the cachaça.
• Stir well, or pour everything into a shaker, shake briefly and pour back into the glass. Serve right away.

Notes

The nutrition counts the juice of the lime, since the peel and pulp stay in the glass. Allulose dissolves best when muddled with the lime before the ice goes in.

Chef's Tip: Look for cachaça made in Brazil from fresh sugarcane juice. Aged cachaças are smoother and best sipped neat; a clear, unaged one is traditional for caipirinhas.

Keto Swap: A caipirinha is usually made with 2 teaspoons or more of white sugar. Allulose sweetens it the same way, and the distilled cachaça itself has no carbs.

Success Tip: For a caipiroska, swap the cachaça for vodka. For a nonalcoholic version, muddle the lime and allulose and top with sparkling water.

Nutrition is calculated from the ingredients and is an estimate per serving. Net carbs exclude fiber and allulose.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 142kcal | Fiber: 0.1g

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About This Dish

Cachaça is distilled from fermented fresh sugarcane juice, while most rum is made from molasses. In 2003 a Brazilian presidential decree officially defined the caipirinha as a typical Brazilian drink, made with cachaça, lime and sugar. A popular story says the drink began in the interior of São Paulo state as a home remedy with lime, garlic and honey, but its true origin is unknown. The name comes from caipira, a word for people from the countryside. The caipirinha is recognized by the International Bartenders Association as an official cocktail.

This recipe is from The Ultimate Brazilian Keto Cookbook by Gisele Costello, Chapter 12: Drinks (Copacabana Beach). See all Brazilian recipes