What's Cooking On 1060: Rio-Themed Cocktails, Parties
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - With the Rio Olympics kicking off this weekend, folks will have Brazil on their minds.
One Philadelphia restaurant is celebrating the national drink of Brazil with a local twist. Bank and Bourbon is featuring a special caipirinha cocktail this month.
"This is more or less the national drink of Brazil, but with us being a Philadelphia restaurant, we wanted to put our own inherently local twist on it," says general manager Dan Rivas, "which is why we're featuring Bluecoat Gin instead of the normal Cachaca which is used."
He admits using gin instead of rum changes the flavor profile:
"Gin is a different spirit; it's distilled, it's going to play up in the juniper notes, not on the herbal notes, whereas Cachaca is a sugarcane spirit and so you're gonna have some different flavors going on there."
So how do you make a Bluecoat Caipirinha?
"We start off with about three muddled limes and muddle that down over about two tablespoons of brown sugar," explains Rivas. "We're gonna add about two ounces of gin and then we're gonna shake that thoroughly, serve that over shaved ice in a highball glass, garnish with a lime wedge and at the very end, we're just gonna top it with a little bit of 21st amendment Hell or High Watermelon, watermelon wheat beer just to give it a little bit of effervescence, and you're also gonna get some of those watermelon notes as well."
And if you're having friends over to watch the Olympics, he recommends some Rio-themed food:
"Lots of light, refreshing fare, tapas, seafood obviously is a big part of their diet down there, that would be something that would be key. Grilling a whole fish, serving that family style, having guests serve themselves. Ceviche would also be an item that would pair up really well with this kind of drink."
Hear the full podcast with Rivas (runs 4:15)…
And for this week, that's "What's Cooking on 1060!"
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