Cocktail Recipe: The Brazilian Rose

Soccer fans across the globe are still spinning from the Germany smack down on Brazil a few weeks ago. If you’re among the mourners, cheer up. This Brazilian-inspired sip is sure to score a win this weekend.

You may know cachaça from its appearance in the caipirinha (which is much like the mojito but with cachaça in place of rum and without mint). Like rum, cachaça is made from sugar, with the difference being that rum is mostly made from molasses (a sugar by-product) and cachaça is made straight from sugar cane. Like tequila, you can sip cachaça simply with a squeeze of lime or add some sour mix and ice.

Cachaça has floral and sweet aromas, but you also get musky, earthy and vegetal notes, similar to tequila. It’s fun to play with cachaça at the bar as it works nicely with citrus, fresh fruit juices, and floral and bitter components to create an array of different cocktails. I had been wanting mix this spirit with St. Germain from first sniff, and for this week’s 10-Minute Happy Hour, I was also inspired by the roses right outside my window.

Rosewater is an extremely fragrant ingredient, and much like perfume, a little goes a long way. For this sip you’ll do a fancy bar move called a “rinse.” This simply means you pour the ingredient — in this case, rosewater — in the glass and then pour it out again. This way, we get the essence of roses but the cocktail isn’t overpowered by it.

So dry your eyes, soccer fans, and raise a glass to Brazil’s total score in the booze scene. I promise with this nicely chilled, summery sip you’ll still be winning.