Caipirinha

 

1 large lime
2 Fl. oz. of cachaça
Sugar and ice to taste

Wash the lime and roll it on the board to loosen its juice. Cut the lime into pieces as "cross", discard the white parts in the middle and place them in a shaker. Sprinkle with the sugar and crush the pieces (pulp side up) with a pestle. (We have a, wooden pestle boughtin Brazil, made for exclusively for this purpose - I believe there's caipirinha kits for sale). Just enough to release the juice, otherwise it'll get bitter. Add the cachaça and ice and shake it well. f you don't have the shaker, you can use a glass, stiring very well.
The beauty of this drink it’s the right alcohool, as its such unique. I strongly recommend you trying to find it. However if you can’t find it, use a very good vodka; If you use vodka, the drink will be called caipiroshka.
You also can use kiwi, strawberries and pineapple instead of limes... But the original caipirinha should be made with limes, good limes. I particularly think that's a shame to make the substitutions.
The “bad” of caipirinha is that you should make individual drinks. I don’t mind it, but it can be a bit of work for some people.