Brazilian Drinks

Brazil Tour Tips
For international tourists or business travelers, Brazil hotel guide Hotel in Site also offers some interesting tour tips. As native Brazilians, we wish to make your stay more enjoyable and also call your attention to places and things in Brazil you may not be aware of. Here you will find tips on our traditional drink Caipirinha. To see all the tips we have gathered to date about major attractions, best tourist locations, Brazilian peculiar food and drinks, check the Brazil Tour Tips page.

Caipirinha (pronounced ky-pi-ri-nia) is the favorite national cocktail. Originally prepared with cachassa sugar cane alcohol also called pinga. lime, sugar and ice are the other ingredients, and it is very much appreciated by all. Take a small green lime and cut it in four, add 2 or 3 spoonfuls of sugar in a sturdy glass, and squash it thoroughly with a pistil. Now add one generous measure of cachassa and three ice cubes. Mix slowly with a stick, making sure the ice cubes are almost totally melted, to soften and kool the drink.
Nowadays it is also prepared with Vodka, which is easier on your breath, but looses that wonderful original flavor.
They used to prepare this cocktail in very small glasses, and you could handle half a dozen in one evening, but today they serve it in big glasses, and if you have more than one, don't drive home.

Cachaça is distilled from sugar cane and is a very powerful brandy. It looks like water and has a wonderful flavor somewhat close to Rum. It is also called "pinga" after the "drops" from the still.
Very inexpensive and therefore very popular in Brazil, but not everyone can take it straight, so it is mostly served in the caipirinha cocktail.
The sugar cane alcohol was also prepared for fuel. It is added to gasoline at a 20% ratio and reduces the pollution of the Brasilian cars. It is also today a major alternative to gasoline. There are millions of cars running on pure sugar cane alcohol with some great advantages, such as more power, lower price, and less poluttion. The local auto industry produces these cars normally, and all the gas stations throughout the country have this fuel always available, but if you run out of gas and there is no gas station around, just go to a bar or a supermarket and buy a few bottles of cachassa to get you home.

Note: Beer is Brazil's favorite drink because of the warm weather. It is always served ice cold. Draft beer is universally available and is simply called "Chopp" or "Chopps" (pronounced shoapp). Bottled in 800ml bottles is also very common and is called "Cerveja". You can also order a half bottle, and long necks and 300ml cans are also easy to get. At some places, when you are drinking "Chopp" the waiter will keep bringing new glasses non stop without asking you, whenever your glass is empty, so you must tell him specifically to stop, when you have had enough, or keep your glass partially unfinished until you want a new and cold one.

Tap water is safe for drinking, but does not taste too good with all the chlorine and other germ killers that comes with it, so there is always mineral water available. The word for water is "Agua" and to order a bottle or a sealed cup, you say: "Agua Mineral por favor".

Fresh pressed orange juice is always available and tastes real good. Brazil is probably the largest producer of orange juice in the world. They grow all around the country, but the large volume plantations and processing plants are in the state of Sao Paulo, close to the coffee and sugar cane plantations.


Get more Brazil Tour Tips on Brazilian Food & Drinks, Adventure, Pantanal, Amazon and other interesting places


For further information feel free to contact:
roni@hotelinsite.com.br


Hotel in Site - Brazil Hotels Guide
3 options to search and find more than 13,000 hotels in 1,000 Brazil cities
Go
Home Travel Links Links Exchange About Hotel in Site Our Company Site Map