By Melissa Moreno | April 20, 2019
Earth Day is Monday, April 22nd. Though finding ways to protect the earth is year-round, Earth Day has been a catalyst for ongoing education and action to climate change, to end plastic pollution, to protect endangered species, to broaden, educate, and activate the environmental movement across the globe. Earth Day is also a great day to celebrate those who contribute to those eco-friendly behaviors.
Novo Fogo, the most well-known cachaça brand in the world and a leader in environmental sustainability, adopts these green behaviors and uses them significantly through their zero-waste distillery, purchasing carbon credits to offset the impact of their activities and sustain rainforest preservations through their reforestation project called, “The Un-Endangered Forest.”
In celebration of Earth Day, Novo Fogo has created a few earth bounty cocktails that celebrate the planet deliciously, while using resources that are eco-friendly. So while you are signing petitions to save the planet or finding new ways to contribute to protecting our earth, why not mix up one of these delicious expressions and say cheers to Mother Earth!
BUMBLEBEE DAIQUIRI
- 2 oz Novo Fogo Chameleon Cachaça
- 1 oz organic lime juice
- 0.5 oz raw honey syrup (equal parts raw honey dissolved in hot water)
- 0.5 oz lime oleo saccharum (recipe below)
Method:
Shake all ingredients with ice and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.
This balanced Brazilian daiquiri is sweetened with earthy honey syrup as well as oleo saccharum, an aromatic citrus syrup that puts lime peels to good use instead of throwing them into the compost. If you’re not up to making oleo saccharum, replace it with another half-ounce of honey syrup. Your daiquiri will be less limey but delicious nonetheless.
To make oleo saccharum, remove the peel of at least five limes with a peeler and put the peels in a bowl (you can then juice the peel-less limes). Cover the peels with granulated sugar. With a muddler or wooden spoon, massage the sugar granules into the lime peels by firmly pressing. Transfer the peels and sugar into a Ziploc bag and press out the air before sealing. Store in the refrigerator for at least five hours or overnight to extract the liquid and oils from the lime peels. Strain the resulting lime syrup into a jar or bottle and you’re ready to go!
CAIPIRINHA DA TERRA
- 2 oz Novo Fogo Silver Cachaça
- 1 organic lime
- 1.5 tbsp rapadura sugar
Method:
Cut off both ends of the lime and slice it down the middle. Remove the pith and slice the lime into 8 pieces, and add them to a shaker. Add rapadura sugar and muddle until the sugar is dissolved and the lime is squeezed of its juice. Add the cachaça and shake with ice. Dump everything into a tumbler and garnish with flowers.
Rapadura is unrefined sugar made simply by evaporating sugarcane juice. It’s earthy and grassy and sweet. You can find it in granulated form or condensed in a block or loaf. If it’s the latter, shave off enough to make a heaping tablespoon. A Caipirinha made with rapadura sugar instead of white sugar is a true celebration of raw, unrefined plant ingredients that harmonize in a nuanced cocktail.
PARANÁ PUNCH
- 1.5 oz Novo Fogo Chameleon Cachaça
- 1 oz organic lemon juice
- 1 oz erva-mate tea syrup (recipe below)
- 5 mint leaves
- 1.5 oz sparkling wine
Method:
Add all ingredients except for sparkling wine in a shaker and shake with ice. Pour over ice and top with sparkling wine, stirring to combine. Garnish with fresh mint.
This Brazilian sour brings together two delightful beverages from southern Brazil: Novo FogoOrganic Cachaça and erva-mate (aka yerba mate). Mate is a traditional South American tea made with the leaves of a forest shrub that are high in caffeine and antioxidants. The flavor of Brazilian erva-mate is like robust, earthy green tea. It can be enjoyed hot or cold; cold mate tea is commonly mixed with citrus or herbs and is called tereré.
To make erva-mate tea syrup, bring 1 cup of water to a boil and turn off the heat. Dissolve 1 cup of sugar in the water. Steep 6 bags of bagged mate tea (such as Guayaki) in the hot syrup for 15-20 minutes, then remove the tea bags and chill the syrup.
TROPICAL ITCH
- 1 oz Novo Fogo Tanager Cachaça
- 1 oz Noble Oak Bourbon
- 0.75 oz organic lemon juice
- 0.5 passion fruit syrup
- 0.25 oz orgeat (such as Giffard)
Method:
Combine all ingredients in a shaker with crushed ice and shake. Dump everything into a tall glass and add more crushed ice. Garnish with fresh mint. Though this drink will scratch that tropical itch, feel free to additionally garnish with a bamboo back scratcher just to be safe.
This tropical drink from Rumba in Seattle, WA, features Novo Fogo’s Tanager cachaça expression, which was finished in reclaimed Brazilian zebrawood called araribá for a distinctively earthy flavor. The Un-Endangered Forest is Novo Fogo’s reforestation project to save native tree species like araribá by planting trees in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest.
EARTH DAY COCKTAILS FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY
Liquor.com | April 20, 2019