To celebrate the World Cup, June is dedicated to Brazil on in-sight.  Recently Emmanuel Laroche, VP of MSCI North America, visited our Symrise LATAM headquarters in Brazil.

There’s a Brazilian saying that “God made the world in six days, the seventh he devoted to Rio”. Unfortunately my trip to Brazil this past February was limited to Sao Paulo – Symrise LATAM regional headquarters. Rio would have to wait for another trip!

I spent the weekend with my local guide Carlos Calderon, MSCI Head Latin America, discovering local delicacies, from street food to Churrascaria, from Cachaçarias (traditional Brazilian bars which specialize in Cachaça) to fancy bars for international travelers and local yuppies.

Caipirinha, a traditional Brazilian drink prepared with cachaça is very popular in Europe and the U.S. I guess you could say it used to be Brazil's best-kept secret, but it is the connoisseur's cocktail of choice from New York City to Miami.

The name caipirinha is derived from the Portuguese word caipira (hick, hayseed, country bumpkin, rube, etc) coupled with the -inha suffix (a diminutive denoting little or small) and can be variously translated as little hick, little hayseed, little country bumpkin, little rube, etc

Nobody knows for sure exactly who made the first caipirinha or when. Many older Brazilians claim that the caipirinha was originally a folk remedy used to help alleviate the symptoms of the common cold and the flu and to soothe sore throats. Even today, many Brazilians are known to create a concoction of lime juice, cachaça and honey as a remedy for colds and flu.

My favorite caipirinha tasted during my stay in Sao Paul was the passion fruit caipirinha. This version has been a standard in Brazil for several years as well as the Kiwi caipirinha, the Strawberry and the Watermelon.  Most of the Cachaçarias carry them on the menu.

Here are some additional flavors for caipirinhas: pineapple, pineapple mint, blood orange, tangerine, peach, pear, mango, orange, guava and blackberry & cabernet.

From June 12th to July 13th enjoy the soccer games from the World Cup and experiment with the different flavors of caipirinhas as there are almost as many flavors as soccer matches.