Drinks Cafezinho – A Cachaça Coffee Cocktail That Brazilians Love!

Everybody in Brazil drinks Cafezinho – but it is not always taken straight. As an early evening refresher, it is common for a Brazilian to enjoy a cachaça coffee, or a sneaky Brazilian iced coffee cocktail that contains two different types of rum and tastes rather delicious.

Come on!

Where do you think they get all their energy and samba beat from to dance all night – it’s a great mix of coffee and alcohol.

Keep reading for two great Brazilian coffee cocktails.

What Is Cafezinho?

A Cafezinho is the traditional coffee drink in Brazil. Once you are in the country, you will find it impossible not to encounter it somewhere. It is served all over Brazil. It is a small 4-ounce to 6-ounce coffee that is usually served black and made with rapadura, an unrefined cane sugar.

Commonly taken as a black coffee, but you can find locals drinking it with a dash of milk or cream.

Read: Brazilian coffee beans

Cafezinho Meaning

Cafezinho is the Portuguese way of saying Cafecito, a small black coffee, literally a small coffee.

Cafezinho Recipe

Cafezinho is what you will be welcomed with everywhere you go in Brazil be it to someone’s home, a job interview and even at boutique stores you will be offered a cafezinho.

It is the classical and warm way of Brazilian hospitality, so warm, so friendly and really want you to enjoy their coffee.

Cafezinho is what you will be welcomed with everywhere you go in Brazil, be it to someone’s home, a job interview and even at boutique stores you will be offered a cafezinho.

It is the classical and warm way of Brazilian hospitality: so warm, so friendly and really want you to enjoy their coffee.

Ingredients

All the ingredients are easy to find, even rapadura, which is unrefined cane sugar. You’ll find it on Amazon and locally too.

Cafezinho recipe for making 4 cups of Cafezinho.

• 4 cups of mineral or filtered water.
• 4 heaped teaspoons of Brazilian coffee.
• 4 teaspoons of rapadura.
• Milk or cream (optional).
• Paper, metal or cloth filter.

Read: Cafezinho recipe

Step 1: Boil Water and Add Your Rapadura

Start by adding your water to your saucepan and heating it. Bring it to a high heat, almost boiling, and add your rapadura and stir well. Let your water simmer to ensure it is hot.

Step 2:  Add Your Coffee Grounds

Remove your saucepan from the heat and let it cool for 30 seconds. Add your coffee grounds and stir for 15 to 25 seconds.

Letting your water cool before adding the coffee grounds is important to avoid too high a temperature and ending up with an overtly bitter coffee.

Step 3: Filter Your Coffee

For an authentic Cafezinho drink, filter with a cotton sock coffee filter and let it drip into your coffee cup.

You can also use a paper or metal filter if you don’t have a coffee sock.

Step 4: Serve And Enjoy

You can enjoy your Cafezinho as a black coffee for an authentic Brazilian coffee or as you wish. You can add milk and cream as desired.

Awesome Cafezinho Drinks: Brazilian Iced Coffee Cocktail Recipe

This is a rich, cream and sweet Brazilian iced coffee cocktail with alcohol that is sure to help you cool off and chill out during a hot summer evening.

For an authentic Brazilian iced coffee cocktail, use a Cafezinho as the coffee base, sweeten it with condensed milk and add a little coconut rum and dark rum and sip away at the South American vibe.

Ingredients Required

There are no difficult-to-find ingredients for making this Brazilian Iced Coffee Cocktail.

Here is what you will need:

• Brazilian espresso beans.
• Unsweetened condensed milk.
• Dark rum.
• Coconut rum.
• Cinnamon.

Read: Cafezinho

How To Make Brazilian Iced Coffee Cocktail

The best way of making this iced coffee cocktail is to use an ice cube tray and fill it with Cafezinho coffee. When you have cafezinho coffee cubes, as your ice cubes melt it will not dilute your cocktail.

You could go a step further and make a full version of this cocktail in ice cube format.

Make an Iced version of Cafezinho for a Brazilian iced coffee. Follow the recipe above for making a Cafezinho with the exemption of making it twice as strong, and pour it over your ice cubes or your coffee ice cubes.

Use a temperature-resistant mug as it may shatter due to the change in temperature may shock a tall glass.

Add a tablespoon of unsweetened condensed milk and stir well. Add a shot, a fluid ounce (30 ml) of coconut rum and a fluid ounce (30 ml) of dark rum.

Transfer the content of your mug to a cocktail shaker with ice or coffee ice cubes and shake well for a minute.

Take tall glass, dip the rim in condensed milk and coat the rim with finely ground Brazilian espresso coffee and cinnamon mix.

Transfer your iced coffee cocktail from the cocktail shaker to a tall glass and enjoy.

Cachaça Coffee Cocktail

To make a tasty, delicious and authentic Brazilian Cachaça coffee cocktail use the most loved Brazilian coffee drink Cafezinho.

This is a refreshing fabulous drink that is a perfect happy hour or pre-happy hour starter.

To avoid the bitter tones, remove the pith of the lime. The pith is the thick, spongy white layer. When you are muddling the lime, be sure to place them pulp up in your cocktail shaker to ensure the skin does not get beaten around too much, which will make your cachaça coffee bitter.

Ingredients That You Will Need

All these ingredients are easily found. Cachaça may require a bit of a search, a local specialist store will have it. If not, Amazon will for sure.

The flavor of cachaça can be replicated by mixing white rum and white tequila in equal amounts.

• Brown Rapadura: Unrefined brown cane sugar. The toffee and caramel flavor goes very well with the nutty and chocolate flavors of Brazilian coffee and the taste of cachaça.
• Lime: Use a fresh lime, the results are much better than bottled lime juice. Look for a lime with a soft, thick skin.
• Cachaça:  The traditional Brazilian liquor, made from sugarcane juice.
• Coffee: Use and make the best quality Cafezinho that you can using the recipe above. Make it stronger to compensate for melting ice or make Cafezinho ice cubes.
• Coffee Beans: 100% Optional as they are used to garnish your drink.

How To Make Cachaça Coffee

Brew your coffee as a strong Cafezinho using 50% to twice as much coffee to make it stronger in order to compensate for the dilution effect of the ice.

Alternatively, you can make Cafezinho ice cubes, better yet make cachaça coffee ice cubes.

Muddle your lime and sugar in your cocktail shaker. Add a shot or two (one of two fluid ounces, 30 ml to 60 ml) of cachaça, ice cubes (or coffee ice cubes). When ready, add your Cafezinho – it is not important if it is hot or not; the ice will cool it down instantly.

Shake strongly for a minute or two. Your cachaça coffee cocktail will be frothy and aerated.

Serve in a highball glass with ice and garnish with your coffee beans.

Frequently Asked Questions About Drinks Cafezinho

Do Brazilians Drink A Lot Of Coffee?

Yes, Brazil is the world’s leading coffee producer and the second-largest consumer of coffee. 98% of households in Brazil regularly drink coffee.

Do Children In Brazil Drink Coffee?

Yes, and it is encouraged by the Government in Brazil to increase domestic coffee consumption. Nursery-age children are offered milky coffee and caffeinated iced tea daily. The children in Brazil have a preference for the milky coffee drinks, and many children drink it daily during their formative years. 

Is Brazilian Coffee High In Caffeine?

Brazilian coffee can have elevated levels of caffeine when compared to other coffees, but it really depends on which Brazilian coffee beans. The popular Arabica varieties of Catuai, Bourbon, Maragotype, Typica and Mundo Novo are all very low acidity and have a harmonious flavor. They are also low in caffeine content.

On the other side of the coin, a Brazilian blend has 30% Robusta variety beans and are notably higher in caffeine than the varieties above and thus can be said to have more caffeine than other blends.

How Is Coffee Drank In Brazil?

Brazilians love their Cafezinho, which is a small hot coffee made with rapadura. Due to Brazilians drinking a lot of coffee, they drink it in small cups, typically 4 oz to 6 oz (120 ml to 180 ml) and will drink it throughout the day – easily 3 to 4 cups or more.

Is Brazilian Coffee Arabica?

The predominant coffee in Brazil is Arabica, which is 70% of all coffee beans grown in the country. The remainder is Robusta beans.

There are at least 5 varieties of the Arabica beans grown, Maragotype, Mundo Novo, Bourbon, Catua and Typica.

The principle export markets for Brazilian coffee are Belgium, Japan, Italy, the US and Germany.

What Is Cafezinho In Brazil?

Cafezinho is a short, strong and thick black coffee from Brazil. It’s much more than that; it’s a sociocultural thing where it is synonymous with great hospitality and their friendliness. It’s an invitation to relax, put down your work for a few moments and chat with your work friends, or host. You will be offered a cafezinho non-stop in Brazil!

How Do You Drink Brazilian Coffee?

Brazilian coffee is best enjoyed black and by making their famous sweet, short black coffee drink, the cafezinho. Enjoy it black first, then if you normally drink coffee with milk, later add milk. Enjoy it at least once as the Brazilians do.

What Is The Meaning Of Cafezinho?

Cafezinho translates to little coffee with cafe meaning coffee and the suffix zinho meaning small. It’s a small black coffee.

Final Thoughts – Drinks Cafezinho

If you think everyone in Brazil drinks Cafezinho, you are absolutely correct, and they have some absolutely fabulous and delicious cocktails be it with their Iced Coffee or the cachaça coffee cocktail.  

Try them, enjoy them and join our coffee community on Facebook/Meta and let us know how you enjoyed your exotic Brazilian coffee cocktails, did you alter the recipe?

Share your own great Cafezinho recipes and drinks with your fellow coffee lovers!

Derek Marshall

Derek Marshall, a certified barista by the Specialty Coffee Association possesses over two decades of experience in specialty coffee shops. He holds professional certifications for coffee brewing and barista skills. Derek is also an author with authoritative books covering various coffee topics including specialty coffee, sustainability and coffee, coffee brewing, coffee recipes, coffee cocktails and books focusing on Brazilian coffee, Vietnamese coffee, Indonesian coffee and Malaysian coffee. As a barista for over two decades, Derek Marshall has worked in specialty coffee shops across the United Kingdom, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. His expertise extends to the distinct coffee cultures, specialty beverages, and brewing techniques of each nation. Functioning as a coffee consultant, Derek charges US$50 per hour. To learn more about Derek Marshall and Latte Love Brew, visit his About Me Page. For coffee inquiries, contact him at +34-639-410-375 or Derek@LatteLoveBrew.com, mentioning your name and location