Say olá to spring with a caipirinha made of cachaça, rum’s well-pedigreed older cousin.

Incisal Edge  spirits columnist Lauren Mowery, offers a toast to simplicity in the spring edition of the dental lifestyle mag. Mowery, who has covered the world through the lens of drink for publications including Wine Enthusiast, Forbes and Saveur shares insight on cachaça:

“As winter fades, the tendrils of spring signify renewal. It’s a time for purging closets, cleansing minds and bodies — and brightening up cocktails, swapping heavier tipples for brisk ones. Traditionally, Americans mix margaritas for mojitos for the vernal transition. This year, though, take a page from the playbook of Brazil — a land that embodies verdant life — and try cachaça.

Distilled in Brazil from (by law) fresh sugarcane juice, cachaça, first developed in the 1500s, is rum’s older cousin. If you’re unfamiliar with the spirit by name, you’ve likely sampled it in Brazil’s national drink, the caipirinha. The beauty of that South American cocktail lies in its simplicity: Muddle lime with sugar, then shake with your favorite cachaça.”

Read four standouts she recommends: https://viewer.zmags.com/publication/cdda97aa#/cdda97aa/88