How to make the perfect Caipirinha cocktail

Few Brits had heard of a Caipirinha 10 years ago, now it's rapidly become one of the nation's most popular cocktails. Mocotó's bar manager Francisco Brasileiro, or Brazilian Frank (his real name, honestly), explains the art of making an authentic one.

"The most important thing in a cocktail is balance, so you need to get the right amount of juice out of the lime, which should be freshly cut, not done in advance.

"In Brazil we use a whole lime, cut in half lengthways, and then make about six slices across each half, but not quite all the way through.

Put the two half limes in a thick-bottomed tumbler and add two tablespoons of caster sugar – not brown sugar like some bars do – and muddle the lime to get the juice out, but not so much that you squeeze the peel, which is bitter. The ice shouldn't be crushed – it melts too fast – or in cubes, but somewhere in between: put a few cubes in a bag and bash it a few times. Put the ice and 50ml of cachaça into the glass.

"We use Sagatiba which is smooth, a bit like white rum, not a classic cachaça – good for Caipirinhas but not really one I'd drink on it's own.

"Like tequila, cachaça is too in-your-face for some people to drink, so Sagatiba works well in a cocktail. Put a napkin over the glass and stir with the fl at bottom of a barspoon and stir vigorously (bartenders often call this wanking!) until the sugar has dissolved.

"Make sure you taste every cocktail you make – remember you're using fresh fruit – and serve it with a stirrer."