With the Brazilian World Cup looming, JENNIFER KEE tries her hand at shaking up a few Brazil-inspired cocktails.

THE World Cup is heading to a pub in York in the shape of a summer range of Carnival Cocktails.

To get into the Brazilian spirit, Andy Bird, manager at the Slug and Lettuce, Low Ousegate, showed me how to flamboyantly shake up my own cocktails to sip along with the football (brightly coloured feather headdress optional).

They are some of the best cocktails they've come up with yet, he promises. "Just one sip ... will transport you to those golden beaches.”

We get to work making the classic Caipirinha, which you can also choose to add morango (strawberry) or maracuja (passion fruit) for a fruity twist.

The star of this tipple is Sagatiba Cachaca. Made from sugarcane juice, it’s the most popular alcoholic spirit in Brazil and is similar to rum.

Bartenders always look so relaxed making cocktails but as hard as the ‘shaking’ and ‘muddling’ is at first, it's worth it when you taste the finished product.

First, we muddle three lime wedges with two tablespoons of sugar, to get a nice juicy syrup going, to which we add Sagatiba.

After topping the glass up with ice, I give the mixture a good shake in a Boston Cocktail Shaker. Feeling like a bona fida mixologist, I pour the cocktail back into the glass, decorate with a final wedge of lime and voila, you have a Caipirinha!

All the cocktails have to be tasted to make sure they have been made right, so I volunteer myself for this tough task. I find it's quite zingy – the limes add a punchy, sour note to the sweetness from the sugar to create a really refreshing drink.

Andy tells me his favourite is the Soleros, an orange nectar served in a tall hurricane glass, topped off with a squirt of cream.

“It looks and tastes like Solero ice cream. It's deliciously tropical and just the right side of sweet. You can taste a lot of passionfruit in it,” he says, smacking his lips.

“There will be a great festival feel in the bar – the staff will be in swimwear, football shirts, the bar decorated with flowers and fruit.

“Here, we also open wide the windows so punters watching the football we are screening here will feel like they are sat outside. Hopefully England will do well and get far.”

The new menu features a mixture of long and short cocktails as well as a new shot – Caju Amego (the friendly cashew), a traditional Brazilian favourite. For this, you first chew a cashew then cleanse your palette with the smooth Sagatiba Cachaca.

For something a little different, new cocktails such as the bright Blue Brazil Zombie and the Cuba Libre, served in a Havana tin will turn heads. For those who like a bit of fizz, Think Green is a good choice – a mix of Havana Club aged three years, smirnoff vodka, pineapple juice, midori and topped off with Prosecco.

No matter how England do, with this menu of beautiful cocktails, you should definitely have the ball at your feet this summer.

The Carnival Cocktails menus have been available at both Slug and Lettuce venues in Back Swinegate and Low Ousegate since May 7.

Both bars also have a 'street food platter' to complement the new drinks menu: a selection of char-grilled, chimichurri-glazed churrasco skewers (steak, king prawn, chicken breast and spicy sausage whirl) with mixed croquettes of cheese, ham & chilli and pulle pork, with sticky Tabasco dipping sauce, plus potato wedges, topped with sautéed onion and a rich tomato, herb & garlic sauce and garlic-&-herb-topped artisan bread.


Kick off your own Brazilian cocktail party with these recipes:

Soleros

Ingredients

25ml Passoa

12.5ml Midori

12.5ml Absolut Vanilla

50ml Orange Juice

50ml Pineapple

12.5ml Gomme

25ml Cream

Crushed Ice

Fill a tall glass with crushed ice

This cocktail uses the 'build method', combining all the ingredients over ice and stir well

Garnish with squirty cream and serve with a straw


Caipirinha

Ingredients

50ml Sagatiba Cachaca

2 tbps brown sugar

4 fresh lime wedges

Muddle the limes with sugar

Add cachaca and cubed ice

Shake in a Boston Cocktail Shaker and pour mix into a short glass

Garnish with extra lime wedge and serve with straws