Cachaça Cocktail Recipe

During NYC's cold, cold winter, Leblon Cachaça invited a few of the city's best mixologists to create cocktails that would show that the Brazilian spirit wasn't just for the warm days of summer anymore.

Jim Meehan, the master mixologist from the speakeasy-like PDT in the Lower East Side, responded to the challenge by looking to Spain, adding sherry (and some rum) to play alongside Cachaça in his Girl From Jerez—Jerez being the Spanish region that produces some of the world's best sherry.

This of course references the famed song "Girl from Ipanema," a Brazilian classic popularized by Astrud Gilberto. Cachaça is a workingman's spirit in Brazil made from sugarcane juice, and Leblon has its distillery in the heart of sugarcane country, Patos de Minas in the Minas Gerias region. There, Leblon's French-born distiller employs similar techniques to making Cognac for a more refined version of Cachaça, using alembic as opposed to industrial methods.

It's Meehan's commitment to cleverness and Leblon's determination to make its Cachaça special that leads to a drink earning Cocktail of the Week status on Food Republic. Of course, it helps when it's named after a woman. Mix this up in any season for true refreshment.