So you bought a bottle of Brazilian cachaça in honor of the Olympics, and you are already heartily sick of Caipirinhas. That bottle is sitting there on your home bar, taunting you. What are you going to do?

I actually rather like cachaça, but it has always for me been a bit of a one-trick pony. While I like the spirit’s signature drink quite a bit, and I’ve certainly blogged a fair bit back in the day about both spirit and cocktail, the prospect of a Caipirinha every night as I watch over-developed and under-clad swimmers, volleyball players, and gymnasts is a bit… underwhelming. I need another cachaça cocktail (at least) to mix in for my viewing pleasure.

I thought about consulting my good friend and Brazilian bartender extraordinaire, Tony Harion. But if he is not far too busy during the games to advise me in a timely manner, these games are doomed. So I instead went to my best source for a new cocktail if I have some ingredient that is going begging, Martin Doudoroff’s suite of Mixology Tech smartphone apps. In his Shaken and Stirred collection, I found this one by DrinkBoy, Robert Hess. It is easy, and it is delicious.

FESTA

• 2 oz. silver cachaça
• 1/2 oz. fresh lime juice
• 1/2 oz. St. George Raspberry Liqueur (or raspberry syrup)
• 1/2 oz. Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur
• 1 dash Angostura Bitters

Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice.

The original recipe calls for raspberry syrup, but I don’t keep that around, and I’ve had great success using St. George’s stuff as a one-to-one substitute. The drink is quite tasty, and distinctively not a Caipirinha while keeping that gently harsh character that characterizes cachaça for me.

Give it a try, and keep your bottle working throughout the Olympics!

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