Raspberry Caipirinha

Some drinks taste like a small vacation you never had to book. This Raspberry Caipirinha is one of them, and it takes about three minutes to make.

Jump to:

• Why You Will Like This Raspberry Caipirinha
• What You Need For This Raspberry Caipirinha
• Raspberry Caipirinha
• How To Make A Raspberry Caipirinha Step By Step
• Storing And Making This Drink Ahead
• Fun Variations On The Raspberry Caipirinha
• Raspberry Caipirinha Questions I Get Asked
• Recipes You May Like
• Final Thoughts

I first tried a Raspberry Caipirinha at a rooftop party in Brooklyn two summers ago. My neighbor Camila grew up in São Paulo, and she watched me sip a store bought cocktail mix with a look of real pity on her face.

The next weekend she came over with a bottle of cachaça and a pint of raspberries. She showed me how her grandmother made caipirinhas, then she added the berries because Sarah had picked some up at the market that morning. I have made it her way ever since.

Here is what makes this drink so good. Real fruit gets pressed right into the glass, so you get lime oil, sugar, and berry juice all at once. No syrup, no mixers, nothing artificial. Just five things you can count on one hand.

If you like the sharp lime and sugar thing going on here, you will probably love my Brazilian lemonade recipe too. Same bright citrus feeling, no alcohol, and my kids drink it by the pitcher while Donald and I sip these on the balcony.

Why You Will Like This Raspberry Caipirinha

• Three minutes start to finish. No shaking for ages, no straining, no fancy steps.
• Only five ingredients. Sugar, raspberries, lime, cachaça, and one berry on top.
• Real fruit taste. The raspberries go in whole and get pressed, so nothing tastes fake.
• Sweet and tart at the same time. The lime keeps the sugar from taking over.
• Great for a small crowd. You can prep the fruit base ahead and shake to order.
• It looks pretty. Pink, cloudy, with bits of berry floating through the ice.

One quick note before we get going. This is a grown up drink, so keep it for the adults in the room. My kids get the mocktail version further down.

What You Need For This Raspberry Caipirinha

Makes 1 drink.

• 2 teaspoons superfine sugar
• 6 fresh raspberries
• ¼ lime, cut into wedges
• 2 ounces cachaça
• 1 raspberry for the top

A few notes from my kitchen:

Cachaça is the heart of this drink. It is a Brazilian spirit made from fresh sugarcane juice, and it tastes grassy and a little wild compared to rum. Camila buys hers at a small shop on the Lower East Side, but most decent liquor stores carry a bottle or two now.

Superfine sugar matters more than you think. Regular granulated sugar sits at the bottom of the glass and stays gritty. Superfine dissolves while you press the fruit. If you only have regular sugar, pulse it in a blender for a few seconds and you are set.

Raspberries should be soft but not mushy. I press one between my fingers at the store. If it collapses into juice right there, I pick a different container.

Limes need to be heavy for their size. Roll yours on the counter first, then cut. You get so much more juice that way, and I learned that from my mom when I was about fifteen.

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How To Make A Raspberry Caipirinha Step By Step

The whole thing happens in one shaker. Read it once, then go.

Step 1: Press The Sugar, Berries, And Lime

Drop 2 teaspoons of superfine sugar, 6 raspberries, and the lime wedges into a cocktail shaker.

Take your muddler and press straight down, then give it a quarter turn. Repeat about eight or ten times.

You want the lime oils out of the peel and the berries broken open. You do not want the lime rind torn to shreds, because that turns bitter fast. Press firmly, then stop.

No muddler? The handle end of a wooden spoon works fine. That is what I used for a full year before I bought a real one.

Step 2: Add The Cachaça And Shake

Pour in 2 ounces of cachaça, then fill the shaker with ice.

Put the lid on and shake hard for about 12 seconds. The outside of the shaker should feel cold enough that your hand wants to let go.

That frost on the metal is your timer. When it shows up, you are done.

Step 3: Pour And Top It Off

Here is the part people get wrong. Do not strain it.

Dump the whole thing, ice and fruit and all, straight into a rocks glass. The bits of raspberry and lime are supposed to be in there.

Drop one more raspberry on top and serve it right away. This drink is at its best in the first ten minutes, before the ice thins it out.

Storing And Making This Drink Ahead

You cannot really store a finished caipirinha, since the melting ice waters it down within the hour.

What you can do is prep the base. Press the sugar, raspberries, and lime for four or five drinks in a bowl, then keep it covered in the fridge for up to two days.

When people show up, spoon a portion into the shaker, add cachaça and ice, shake, and pour. I did this for Donald's birthday last June and it saved me from standing at the counter all night.

Frozen raspberries work too, and honestly they press even easier than fresh ones. Let them sit out for five minutes first so they are not rock solid.

One thing I will warn you about. Do not press the fruit and let it sit for a week. The lime turns bitter and the berries go dull. Two days is my limit.

Fun Variations On The Raspberry Caipirinha

I have messed with this drink plenty since Camila taught me, and some tries went better than others.

• Blackberry version. Swap the raspberries for four blackberries. Deeper color, a little less tart.
• Basil and raspberry. Add two basil leaves with the fruit. Sounds odd, tastes great on a hot night.
• Less sweet. Drop the sugar to one teaspoon if your berries are already very ripe.
• Honey instead of sugar. Use a teaspoon of honey thinned with a splash of warm water. It changes the drink, but in a good way.
• The kid version. Press the sugar, berries, and lime, then top with sparkling water over ice. Alex calls this the fancy soda and asks for it every single time we make the real ones.

Ever tried a cocktail that was too sweet to finish? That is usually a sugar problem, not a fruit problem. Taste your berries first and adjust from there.

One thing I would skip: I once used a flavored vodka instead of cachaça and it tasted like candy. Plain rum works in a pinch, but cachaça is worth the trip to the store.

Raspberry Caipirinha Questions I Get Asked

What is a Raspberry Caipirinha made of?

It is made of cachaça, fresh lime, superfine sugar, and raspberries. That is the whole list. A traditional caipirinha skips the berries, so the raspberries are the small twist here. Everything gets pressed together in one shaker, then poured over ice without straining.

How do you press raspberries and lime for a caipirinha?

Push straight down with a muddler, turn it a quarter of the way, then push again. Do this about ten times. The goal is broken berries and lime juice with the oils from the peel. Grinding the rind too hard makes the drink bitter, so stop once the fruit looks crushed and the sugar has mostly dissolved.

Can you make a Raspberry Caipirinha without cachaça?

You can, though it becomes a different drink. White rum is the closest swap and gives you something like a raspberry daiquiri. Vodka works and tastes cleaner. For a no alcohol version, press the fruit and sugar, then top with sparkling water and a squeeze of extra lime.

What type of sugar is best for a Raspberry Caipirinha?

Superfine sugar wins because it dissolves while you press the fruit. Granulated sugar leaves grit at the bottom of your glass. Simple syrup mixes in fine, but you lose a little of that texture that comes from sugar crystals working against the lime peel. I keep a small jar of superfine sugar just for drinks.

Recipes You May Like

• Hot In Rio Cocktail is another Brazilian style drink with a bit of heat behind it. If you liked the cachaça here, this one is your next pour.
• Raspberry Peach Lemonade uses the same berries with no alcohol at all. Perfect for the afternoon before the party starts.
• Piña Colada Recipe brings creamy pineapple and coconut to the table when you want something softer and sweeter.

Final Thoughts

So there it is. Press the sugar, berries, and lime, add cachaça, shake with ice, and pour the whole thing into a glass.

Five ingredients, three minutes, and a drink that tastes like someone actually made it for you.

I love this one because it fits a Friday night on the balcony just as well as a summer party with twelve people in my kitchen. Camila still tells me my lime cuts are too thick, and she is probably right.

Make it once this week and let me know how it goes in the comments. Save it to Pinterest so you can find it again when the weather turns warm.