By Melissa Pette and Dylan Parker

Last week we warmed our throats with a couple of delicious booze, Coffee liqueur and Orange liquor. Well, we were just getting started!

This column is credited to our dear friend, Dylan Parker, who traveled from Portland, Oregon, 15 years ago, to found love in Costa Rica. He lives happily with his family in La Fortuna de San Carlos in Alajuela Province.

 

Dylan had the brilliant idea of making this article about some of the best-known drinks in Latin America.

We started with one of the most famous drinks in Costa Rica, the Chiliguaro. 

 

Chiliguaro

I had Chiliguaro for the first time many years ago at the highly recommended Pollo Fortuneño restaurant, in La Fortuna de San Carlos.

Here is his homemade version of the famous Tico drink. The ingredients are:

 

 •1/4 liter guaro Cacique.

 •1 spoonful of spicy Tabasco.

 •1 teaspoon of Lizano sauce.

 •2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

 •1 teaspoon of pepper.

 •1 liter of tomato juice.

 •1 tablespoon of salt.

 

In the blender, add the tomato juice first, then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend at low speed. Let it fridge for 10 minutes. 

 

Chill your glass before rimming. Cut a notch in the lemon. Run that notch all around the glass. Put some salt in a dish that is bigger than the diameter of your glass. Tip the glass over into the salt, twisting it around. Now, you are ready to pour Chiliguaro with no regrets. Cheers!

This special drink of Cuban tradition is to enjoy in the summer season. I think its fame is because the main ingredient, rum, is easy to get almost anywhere in the world.

It is delicious as well as easy and quick to prepare. And we love it!

 

 Ingredients are:

 

 • 1/4 glass of white rum.

 • 4 mint leaves.

 • 2 tablespoons of white sugar.

 • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.

 • 1 handful of crushed ice.

 • Soda or mineral water.

 

Softly crush the mint leaves. In a whiskey glass, add the mint and sugar, and mix. Then add the rum and lemon juice. Mix again. Fill the glass with ice and mineral water. Give it a touch of decoration with some mint leaves and a slice of lemon on the top. 

Viva Cuba Libre sin Castro! You know what I mean!

Caipirinha

This is a top Brazilian drink. The main liquor is cachaça.

It is a type of sweet rum based on pure fermented sugar cane juice, which gives it a completely different flavor than traditional rum.

You can find cachaça and caipirinha rum at Automercado or Walmart.

 

If you want to taste the bossa-nova drink, here is how to make it.

 

 Ingredients:

 

 • 2 sour lemons.

 • 2 tablespoons of white sugar.

 • 2 ounces of cachaça or caipirinha rum.

 • 1 tablespoon of acidic lemon juice.

 • Crushed ice.

 

Cut the sour lemons into quarters. In a large glass or cocktail shaker, add the lemon and the sugar. With a spoon or if you have a cocktail mixer, crush the lemons until the juice is out. Then add the cachaça and the acidic lemon juice. Stir.

 

If there's no cachaça or caipirinha rum, replace it with any favorite rum.

 

Pour the mixture, including crushed lemons, into a glass with crushed ice. Stir lightly. Serve immediately and garnish with a lemon slice.

 

A tip. This is a very sweet drink, and it seems harmless, but don't be fooled. Take the time to enjoy the drink with small sips. Or you will earn the worst hangover of your life. As the Brazilians say, Apressado come cru!

Pisco 

 

This is the most traditional drink in Peru. The name comes from the grape brandy made by farmers as an indispensable drink in their celebrations.

Currently, this traditional cocktail is part of the cultural heritage of Peru.

Ingredients:

• 1 Bottle of Pisco. The brands I find are Monterierpe or Torontel, at Automercado.

• 3 Lemons.

• 4 tablespoons of sugar.

• 1 egg white.

• Crushed ice.

 

In the blender, squeeze the lemons. Pour the lemon juice into a glass. Measure the amount obtained of lemon juice. Add four times that amount of pisco. That is, the pisco must be four times the amount obtained with the juice.

 

In the blender, add the pisco, the lemon juice, the sugar, the ice, and 1/4 egg white. Blend until there's a foamy consistency.

 

Pour the pisco into a flute champagne glass with a lemon wedge.

Warning: If you start hallucinating jumping Llamas, it is a sign that you made the recipe perfectly!

Have a Pura Vida weekend!

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Find more amazing step-by-step Costa Rican food recipes on the AM Costa Rica Food & Good Eating website. You are invited to share your favorite recipes with a horizontal photo of the dish by emailing food@amcostarica.com