ALCOHOLIC DRINKS

Most world famous spirit drinks are available in Natal. several imported beers, wines from several countries, scoth whisky, cointreau, cognacs, vodka, gin, sake, etc. As everywhere else in the world, it's cheaper to buy a bottle than the pay for shots in a bar; depending on where you go, a shot can be absurdly more expensive (ask before ordering).

The most typical Brazilian alcoholic beverage is cachaça, and the most typical drink is caipirinha, made with cachaça.

Cachaça is a destiled beverage made out of sugar cane; alcoholic graduation is around 40 GL, comparable to whisky. Some Brazilian producers (helped by the Government) are trying to divulgate cachaça abroad, much in the same way that Mexico did with tequila and Cuba did with rum; some early reports say that acceptance is good.
Quality and price of cachaça can vary very much.
Low price, high etilic concentration and high addicting power make cachaca the beverage most consumed by the poorer people; for many, the only fun time is to drink a bottle of cheap cachaca (R$2) during the weekend to forget the hardness of life.
Cachaça can get very refined (and expensive), depending on the material and process used to produce it. The restaurant Feitico Mineiro offers a big selection of cachacas from all over the country; if you try cachaça and enjoy it, take some time to visit that restaurant.

Caipirinha is very easy to make: cut a lemmon in slices; put the slices and sugar in a glass; smash them together; add cachaca, mix everything lightly. The lemmon and sugar help diminish the high ethilic grade, and caipirinha goes down much easier than cachaca.
Replace cachaca with vodka, and the drink is called caipiroska.
Replace lemmon with other fruits, and the drink is called caipifruta; fruits commonly used are grape, strawberry, caju, acerola.
Read more about the right way to prepare caipirinha.



See also: Brazilian beer

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