You know what’s better than a cocktail at the end of a long day? That’s right, dear reader: three cocktails. 

The caipirinha is one of Brazil’s most famous exports. Like any good classic cocktail, it’s so much more than it’s deceptively simple parts. Traditionally, the rule is that all it takes for a caipirinha is four ingredients. Of course, once you know the rules, you can break them! So we’ve given you a classic caipirinha, plus two of our favourite daring reinterpretations. Let the Carnival begin!

Classic Caipirinha

• 2 oz cachaça (a distilled Brazilian spirit made from sugar cane)
• 1/2 lime, cut into wedges
• 2 tsp raw sugar
• ice

In an old fashioned glass, add lime wedges and sugar and muddle with the end of a wooden spoon. Fill the glass with ice and top with cachaça. Serve with a wedge of lime on the rim of the glass.

While cachaça and rum are both derived from sugar cane, they are not to be confused! Cachaça must always be made from fresh sugar cane juice and is only produced in Brazil. Don’t even think about skipping it in a caipirinha!

Muddled Mango Caipirinha

• 2 oz cachaça
• 1/2 lime, cut into wedges
• 2 oz mango juice
• 2 tsp raw sugar
• ice
• wedge fresh mango, to garnish

Start in the same way as the classic caipirinha, by muddling lime and sugar together in an old fashioned glass. Then, add the mango juice and muddle a little more (if everything’s sounding a bit muddled at this stage, it will all get a lot clearer when you take a sip of this drink).

Fill the glass with and add the cachaça. Put a pineapple on your head, take a long drink and toast to the South American life.

Perfectly Passionate Caipirinha

• 2 oz cachaça
• 1/2 lime, cut into wedges
• 1/2 a passionfruit, scooped out.
• 2 tsp raw sugar
• ice
• 1 stalk sugar cane, to serve

OK, by now you know the drill. Grab that old fashioned glass and tell it you remember the good old days too! Get that lime and sugar and get muddling! Then, grab that passionfruit and add it to the mix. Ice, cachaça, serve with a stick of fresh sugar cane (which is delicious and should absolutely be nibbled), and get to drinking.

Drink up!