Batida cachaça cocktail

A batida is a popular cachaça cocktail in Brazil that's strangely less well known elsewhere. It's easy to make, sweet-tart and refreshing and perfect for sipping on a warm day.

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I've long been a fan of caipirinhas, and their variations like my raspberry caipirinha, as an easy and refreshing cocktail for summer. Since I tend to keep cachaça around, I sometimes use it in place of rum for other drinks. However I only recently looked in to 'real' cachaça cocktails. 

It didn't take long before I came across this drink which is a Brazilian favorite. And given it's very much a cocktail for warmer weather, I can completely see why.

What is a batida cocktail?

Batida means "shaken" in Portuguese, which no doubt refers to the traditional way to make this drink. Traditionally, you shake all the ingredients together then serve it over ice.

These days, though, one of the more popular variations is more of a slushie, though. A popular version you'll find served by the beach is made with cachaça, coconut milk and sweetened condensed milk blended together with ice. As Olivia says in her recipe for batida de coco, it's definitely one of those drinks that can be a bit dangerously easy to drink.

Here, however, I've gone with what I understand is more the traditional combination of cachaça, fruit juice and a sweetener. Though that said, I still used a little coconut milk for a smooth edge. 

Passion fruit is a common fruit in Brazil (try a delicious passion fruit mousse as well!) and both it and mango are popular to use in this cocktail.

Using passion fruit, it's a bit more tart than the coconut version and between that and the flavor, to me it makes a drink that's much more to my taste.

I'd recommend fresh passion fruit for this or else frozen and defrosted passion fruit pulp as it's more tart. Passion fruit nectar is generally sweetened so will make a sweeter drink, though I know some will prefer that.

I've used sweetened condensed milk as the sweetener as that's really popular in Brazil. It's partly as it is a lot easier than making a simple syrup, but it also gives a nice slightly creamy texture and emulsifies with the coconut when you shake it.

This batida is an easy and tasty tropical cocktail that's definitely worth adding to your rotation. Perfect for a warm day, or when you need to feel like your somewhere warm!

Try these other cocktails with tropical flavor:

• Passion fruit margarita
• Frozen pineapple daiquiri
• Hibiscus mezcal sour
• Tamarind margarita
• Plus get more cocktail recipes in the archives.

See some of my favorite cooking tools and ingredients in the Caroline's Cooking Amazon store.  In many locations, you can have wine, spirits and more delivered to your door with Drizly.

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