Brazil

Brazil's national cocktail: cachaça, lime and sugar muddled into a rough, radiant, ice-cold refresher — samba in a glass. Ingredients: cachaça, one whole lime cut into wedges, granulated sugar, ice cubes. Method: 1) Muddle the lime wedges with the sugar in a sturdy tumbler — press hard to release the peel's oils, which are half the flavor. 2) Add the cachaça and stir. 3) Fill the glass to the top with ice and serve with a short straw. The experience: tart, sweet, grassy and electric — the lime oils and cane spirit hit together, then melt into balance as the ice opens it up. History: country people in São Paulo state were mixing cachaça with lime and sugar long before it had a famous name — a folk remedy turned national symbol; today no Brazilian beach day, barbecue or festa is complete without one.

Brazil's cane spirit: distilled from fresh sugarcane juice — not molasses — which gives it a grassy, vibrant character all its own. Ingredients: freshly pressed sugarcane juice, water, yeast; aged styles rest in barrels of Brazilian woods like amburana, balsam and jequitibá, as well as oak. Method: 1) Ferment the fresh cane juice within hours of pressing. 2) Distill — in copper alembic stills for artisanal cachaça (the pride of Minas Gerais), or in columns for lighter styles. 3) Serve unaged cachaça ice-cold in shots with lime, or sip aged expressions neat like fine rum. The experience: green, tropical and alive — fresh cane, banana leaf, white pepper; aged versions turn honeyed and spiced. History: cachaça has been made in Brazil since the 1500s, making it one of the oldest spirits of the Americas; today it stands among the most consumed spirits on Earth, most of it joyfully drunk at home.

Brazil's blended beach party: cachaça whirred with fruit and condensed milk into a creamy, tropical shake for grown-ups. Ingredients: cachaça, fruit — coconut, passion fruit (maracujá), strawberry or pineapple — sweetened condensed milk, ice, sometimes a touch of lime or coconut milk. Method: 1) Blend cachaça, fruit and condensed milk with ice until thick and frothy. 2) Pour into a tall glass and serve immediately, with a straw. The experience: a boozy tropical milkshake — lush, sweet and refreshing, led by whichever fruit went into the blender. History: “batida” means “beaten” or “shaken” in Portuguese, and batidas became fixtures of Brazil's beach kiosks and festas in the 20th century; the batida de coco, snowy white and coconut-rich, is the beloved classic of the family.