Sem Cacatuas

• 1.5 oz. Brazilian gin (McQueen and the Violet Fog)
• 0.5 oz. Cachaça (Santo Grau São Paulo)
• 0.5 oz. Clement Mahina Coco
• 0.5 oz. ginger liqueur (King’s)
• 0.25 oz. lime juice
• dash of Dr. Adam Elmegirab’s Brazilian Bitters

Shake with ice and strain into glass. Garnish with lime twist or wedge and candied ginger.

I had a recent (and first) trip to Brazil and came back with cachaça in hand, inspired to make a Brazilian cocktail. Although you could still call this a modified caipirinha, I wanted a gin to serve as the base. For sweet I reached for ginger and coconut, and kept lime for my acid, then ended with Brazilian bitters, of course.

The name? Well, my trip was for business and I had no time for exploring or shopping, so the airport was my only option for gifts for my family. There were several shops that all had these fun stone carvings of cockatoos. I figured it was a “Brazil thing,” found one that I liked and brought it home, thinking I would use it for a cocktail photo. But in researching I found there are “NO cockatoos” in Brazil, and my sculpture is a lie. Thus, the name is simply that in Portuguese. The sculpture was a miss; the drink is not.