The Taxi Driver Caipirinhia

It has been about a year, year and a half since Joe made his Caipirinha for me. I remember it distinctly; lime, cachaça, and a dash of sugar, all fizzied up with a splash o' soda. Mmmmm.

And so, Joe decided to resurrect this popular little number with a twist, (as is befitting Joe's idiom,) and presented me with this week's offering, The 'Taxi Driver Caipirinha."

The Recipe:

Into a cocktail shaker full of ice, add:

- 1 part Galliano, (Home-Made or otherwise!)

- 1 part Vana Talinn

- 2 parts Orange Juice

- 4 parts Cachaça

- Shake! Shake like the very wind!

- Strain into a large martini glass

- Garnish with a slice of orange or a maraschino cherry.

Oh, sure, I should've seen this coming. Joe has been threatening me for a while with revamping some of our earlier cocktail reviews. "Bring those great drinks from our early posts up to speed with all the bells and whistles, (i.e. pop-up illustrations, videos, tangental bar-chatter,) of our modern postings." And I have been stringing him along, ("Yeah, we should! That is a great idea! We should DEFINITELY get around to doing that!") with little or no time to spearhead this initiative.

But, more recently, Joe has been complaining about his computer being on the blink. And this week, after dropping this tasty little number in front of me, he emails me saying his home PC is dead and he can't send me any notes regarding the cocktail!

Being a tad bit on the suspicious and jaded side, I assumed duplicity: "DID YOU THINK I WOULDN'T SEE THROUGH YOUR LITTLE PLAN!?! HA!!!"

Anyways, this is what I thought had happened, until Joe emailed me a "Polaroid" of the repairman he found on AOL. ("It was difficult finding a guy who knows the Sinclair ZX-81," he explained as the problem, whatever that means!)

So, in any case, Joe was unable to provide any notes for this week's Greatest Drink. This week, I walk alone!

From my experience with the cocktail, I can say that this "Taxi Driver" Caipirinha differs greatly from the original with the addition of the vanilla. The traditional "Taxi Driver" calls for a healthy dash of vanilla extract. Joe opted for a new flavor on the ever-growing list of Passage liqueurs with the substitution of the Vana Tallinn.

This is a really nice liqueur with a rich, vanilla taste, giving our subject of the week a smooth velvety quality that mingles nicely with the citrus crowd of O.J. and Galliano, (and remember, you can very nicely use Home-Made Galliano here. I know where you can find a good recipe!) and really makes that Cachaça POP!

I also found out that Vana Tallinn is named after and made in the Estonian capital city of Tallinn, ("Reval," for you in the nonagenarian crowd.) And wouldn't you know it, Tallinn was recently named "The European Capital of Culture for 2011."

I am not sure if Joe knew this or not, but here we are, honoring Estonia for this achievement with a cocktail, and a cocktail that features another of their fine achievements!

That Joe.

I can't help wondering if he intentionally abandoned me this week, so that I could travel down this road of cultural enlightenment and learn these things for myself. So wise, he is, so inscrutable.

I swear, sometimes, I feel I work with Yoda.

This week's video, although only barely related, absolutely stinks with culture. Enjoy Bohemian Rhapsody!

Teie Terviseks!

C: