I am very excited to showcase a Charanda recipe. What is Charanda, you ask? This is yet another excellent spirit from our friends south of the border, distilled from a blend of molasses and sugarcane juice, with the D.O. of Michoacán, Mexico and a 100+ year tradition to back it up.
Uruapan’s Charanda offers a unique lighthearted balance of sweet molasses to grassy sugar cane for an ideal pairing to a slice of dense Key Lime Pie. However, I could do without the extra calories, and would rather sip on a refreshing cocktail than weigh myself down with pie, so let’s get into it.
Let’s combine all of the traditional key lime pie flavors in this cocktail, and take a multi-national sub-tropical tour for the ingredients. To begin, we will fat wash our Mexican Charanda with butter and rest it with good old American graham crackers, to represent our pie crust. Then travel far south of Mexico for a Brazilian lemonade recipe (actually limes, it’s a Portuguese translation thing) to represent the pie filling, sweeten to taste, and enjoy all summer long. I suppose you could really double down here, and enjoy this cocktail WITH a slice of Key Lime Pie. You might just think you have died and gone to Heaven.
Key Lime Pie
Equipment
- Jigger
- Cocktail shaker
- Hawthorne Strainer
- Blender
- Saucepan
- Fine Mesh Strainer
- Air Tight Containers
Ingredients
- 2 oz Butter/Graham Cracker washed Charanda Uruapan Blanco Single Blended Rum
- 3.5 oz Brazilian Lemonade
- 0.5 oz Agave (adjust to taste, the limes can be a wildcard)
- Fresh mint and a lime wheel for garnish
Instructions
- Add Butter/Graham Cracker washed Charanda, Brazilian Lemonade, Agave nectar to a cocktail shaker
- Add ice and shake until well chilled
- Strain into Collins glass filled with fresh ice
- Garnish with fresh mint and a lime wheel
Butter / Graham Cracker Washed Charanda
Ingredients
- 1 L Charanda Uruapan Blanco Single Blended Rum
- 1/2 cup Butter
- 9 full Graham Crackers (a packaged sleeve from a typical box, 1 full cracker = 4 small pieces)
Instructions
- Place butter in a saucepan over low heat, stirring regularly
- When the butter is melted, add the Charanda, and stir
- Let the mixture sit on low heat for about 5 minutes
- Remove from heat and pour into an airtight container
- Let rest for 8-12 hours, then strain
- Place the strained liquid into a wide mouth container and freeze for 24 hours
- Fine mesh strain out the solidified butter particles
- Store in the refrigerator in an air tight container
Brazilian Lemonade
Ingredients
- 8-12 Ripe Key Limes (washed and quartered)
- 2-3 Ripe Key Limes (cut in half for squeezing)
- 1/2 cup Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 4 cups Water
Instructions
- Add the quartered limes, sweetened condensed milk and water to a blender
- Blend on high for 10-15 seconds (the longer you blend, the less sweet)
- Fine mesh strain the mixture
- Squeeze the juice from the remaining
- Taste for bitterness, a little is perfect, too bitter and you should add more milk and/or lime juice
- Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator
