Caipirinha

Toast Around the World: 

Portuguese: Saúde (sah-ood) 

English translation: To Your Health

Cachaça is sugar cane juice fermented in barrels. Until recently, Brazil refused to accept that bourbon was distinctly American. As payback, the US wouldn’t acknowledge Cachaça as unique to Brazil. As a result, any imported Cachaça was labeled “Brazilian Rum” – a misnomer, since rums are usually made with molasses. All was forgiven, and the spirit was able to use the official “Cachaça” name in America starting April 2013. The Caipirinha was born in Brazil in 1918 during the Spanish Flu epidemic and was known as a “miracle recipe”. It originally included garlic, though, by the 1920s had taken on the current iteration and became a hit in high-class places in large Brazilian cities.