By Steven Ziegler

One of the great things about doing social media for the WEBstaurantStore is getting to communicate with all sort of people from all over globe. Tatiana Torres, from Brazil, is one of those people. Now, why would a young woman from Brazil follow the WEBstaurantStore's Twitter feed - when we don't even ship to Brazil? Well, Tatiana is a huge Jonathan Groff fan; and a while back, Jonathan, of Glee fame, helped us out with a little cocktail for Valentine's Day.

Speaking of cocktails, Tatiana commented the other week about a bourbon cocktail that I posted on the WEBstaurant's Tumblr page. She said, "@Webstaurant I loved that Recipe. You should post one about Caipirinha, I think a lot of people would like that :)" Well, I happen to love a good Caipirinha, which is a mixed drink made with cachaça , a kind of sugar cane rum popular in Brazil. But, since she is from Brazil, where it is the national cocktail, I thought I'd ask her to submit how she makes a caipirinha. She was kind enough to respond with her recipe.

By the way, if you love talking Glee, or Jonathan Groff: follow Tatiana! Her Twitter handle is @tatpsy.

Want to know more about the Caipirinha? Well, Tatiana was kind enough to mark up the Wikipedia entry with some pronunciation hints: "The caipirinha (pronounced 'KIE-PUR-REEN-YAH') is the national cocktail of Brazil, and is enjoyed in restaurants, bars, and many households throughout the country. Once almost unknown outside Brazil, the drink has become more popular and more widely available in recent years, in large part due to the rising availability of first-rate brands of cachaça (pronounced "KA SHA SA") outside Brazil. The International Bartenders Association has designated it as one of their Official Cocktails."

Ingredients:

• 1 Lime
• 2 ounces of Cachaça (the most used in Brazil are 51 and Sagatiba)
• Sugar to taste
• Ice cubes

Directions

First you wash the lime and roll it on the board to loosen the juice. Cut the lime into pieces and place them in the old-fashioned glass. Sprinkle with the sugar and crush the pieces (pulp slide up) with a pestle (we have a long, wooden one in Brazil, made specially for this purpose) just enough to release the juice, otherwise it’ll get bitter. Add the cachaça and stir to mix. Add the ice and stir again.

If you can’t find cachaça where you live, you can use a good vodka (this version is well know as Caipiroska) In case you can’t find vodka, you can also use white rum and then you’ll have a Caipiríssima.

The great thing about Tatiana's recipe is that I have been making them at home that way for a couple of years. But what if you are a bar tender at a busy bar? Muddling takes time and if people are three deep at the bar, that is the last thing that you want to do. That is where Finest Call Premium Caipirinha Mix comes in handy. All you need is the mix, cachaça, and ice, and you are done. It makes a fine caipirinha--fast. It even comes with its own speed pourer already attached!