Nearly five years ago, a sparkle of inspiration struck Dragos Axinte, Novo Fogo’s founder and CEO: what if the Caipirinha, Brazil’s beloved mixture of lime, sugar, and cachaça, could be carbonated?
Around that time, carbonated cocktails were catching on at forward-thinking bars. To give drinks a delightful tingle, bartenders used fancy carbonators to inject liquids with C02 bubbles, which would keep cocktails fizzy for about as long as it took to drink them. Some places turned to carbonating and pre-bottling drinks so they would stay carbonated longer, such as the bottled and carbonated Americano cocktail from Jeffrey Morgenthaler in Portland, OR.
The first Sparkling Caipirinha we developed years ago was a mixture of fresh lime juice, sugar, and Novo Fogo Silver Cachaça, which we force-carbonated, poured into glass Champagne bottles, and swiftly capped to lock in the bubbles. The effervescent drinks were beloved at parties, but we wanted to bring the Sparkling Caipirinha to the masses in an even more convenient container. In the following years, we tinkered, tasted, and refined the formula for our Sparkling Caipirinha to create what we think is a mighty fine twist on Brazil’s national drink. Then we sealed it inside a perfectly-sized 200 ml aluminum can.
The Novo Fogo Sparkling Caipirinha combines freshness, deliciousness, and shelf stability by virtue of its natural ingredients that form a balanced, carbonated cocktail. It can be served straight from the chilled can, over ice in a glass, and with or without a slice of lime. Primed to be popular at outdoor bars and events ranging from BBQs to picnics, concerts in the park, and sporting events, the Sparkling Caipirinha keeps the same classic and sophisticated components of the original Caipirinha cocktail but with added convenience.
“We wanted to highlight cachaça in an accessible way, without compromising our pursuit of exceptional quality and Brazilian tradition,” says Axinte. “Cachaça is still growing its awareness in the USA, so we want easy ways to get people into the category. This product is for those cocktail lovers who live in the moment.”
Availability for the Novo Fogo Sparkling Caipirinha will begin in May 2017. Drop us a line if you’re interested in carrying this product, let us know you want it available in your zip code, and follow us on social media for real-time updates about where to find it!
