There’s a new drink in town: The Caipimerda!

Merda! Sorry, but I needed to get that out of the way. The ‘M’ word is Portuguese for ‘shit’ – it isn’t the most common swear word you hear in Brazil, but it, ahem, pops out from time to time.

So why have I gone all scatological? Well, it all started when I walked into a delicatessen in Lagoa last weekend. It was a pretty fancy (read ‘extortionate’) place so I wasn’t really intending to buy anything, but I was enjoying browsing the fancy imported goods – they had everything from olive oil and pasta to beer, wine and whisky.  Then I saw something in the wines and spirits section that stopped me in my tracks.

Licor de whaaaaat?

“No wonder it’s brown!” I thought…

With my curiosity well and truly piqued, I picked up the bottle for closer inspection. It had one of those little booklets hanging around the neck of the bottle which gave a little more info:

Ain’t it always the way? The recipe is apparently from a mad friar…

OK, so I think they are having a little fun with this. After telling us about mad friar, they go on to say that this is extracted from “various trustworthy shits” and therefore there may be sediment with age!

If you are still wondering what the hell this is all about, I am going to try to explain, though I have to say I’m still a little confused myself. Licor de Merda was first created in Portugal in 1974. This was a very turbulent time for Portugal (its fascist dictatorship fell that same year and there was much struggle between left and right). In this context Licor de Merda was created to ironically pay homage to the leaders of the day.

The original Licor de Merda bottle from 1974.

From what I can tell, the brand was revived in 2004 and I expect that in the last few years the people of Portugal have again found new reasons to drown their sorrows and make a special toast to their leaders.

Of course there is no actual merda in the drink. It is made from a base of milk and flavoured with vanilla, cocoa, cinnamon and citrus. I guess the appearance of the Caipimerda was just a matter of time!

Coming soon to a bar near you. First there was caipirinha, then came caipivodka and caipisake. Now this! The text suggests that this is a great drink to offer to your mother-in-law! Of course I would never be so disrespectful…

It’s a weird idea isn’t it? I guess some concepts just don’t translate very well. They even have a Facebook page where they suggest such recipes as “Gelado de Merda” and “Mousse de Merda” (I can’t even bring myself to translate those 2 into English – I’m sure you get the idea…).