\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n The afternoon crowd at <\/span>Baixela<\/span><\/a> was sipping tiny coffees and digging into plates of liver and okra as I sat down for a leisurely lunch, killing time before heading to the airport.<\/span> I\u2019d heard the small bar in Copacabana was worth visiting among Rio de Janeiro\u2019s new-wave botecos: Brazilian establishments akin to dive-y taverns with unfussy drinks and solid food, which have been, like many such venues the world over, revisited and reinterpreted in recent years. I scanned the menu, ready for one last <\/span>caipirinha<\/span><\/a> for the road\u2014until my eye landed on two Portuguese words that I knew individually, but not together. <\/span>Cashew Friend? <\/span><\/i>I had to order it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Brazil is home to an abundance of ingredients that are relatively unknown, or just plain unavailable, in the United States, but few are as quintessential as caju, sometimes called \u201ccashew apple\u201d in English. It\u2019s what\u2019s known as an accessory fruit, a fleshy red or yellow peduncle that hangs from the towering trees of the cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale),<\/span> native to Brazil\u2019s northeastern region.<\/span> The true fruit is a distinctive claw-shaped drupe at the end of the apple, which contains a seed: the cashew nut. The nut, you probably know. The apple is near-impossible to get fresh in the States.<\/span><\/p>\n
In Brazil, though, you\u2019ll see caju everywhere. (It\u2019s also grown and eaten widely in other parts of Latin America and in South and Southeast Asia.) The flavor is singular: \u201cWhile it is sweet when ripe, it is also quite astringent and tannic, depending on the maturity of the fruit,\u201d explains Ivo Ribeiro, one of the partners at <\/span>Tordesilhas<\/span><\/a>, which helped kick-start a new focus on Brazilian gastronomy when it opened in S\u00e3o Paulo in 1990. \u201cIt\u2019s used in juices, cocktails, to accompany <\/span>cacha\u00e7a<\/span><\/a>\u201d\u2014a shot and a slice of caju is a classic combination\u2014\u201cand in savory dishes as well.\u201d Caju is a common flavoring for a souped-up caipirinha, and as I learned at Baixela, it also has a cocktail spotlight all its own. But the fruits have a very short shelf life and don\u2019t ship easily, so this cocktail, the Caju Amigo, is found almost exclusively in Brazil.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n<\/section>\n At Baixela, mine arrived in a large glass jar alongside a pair of pasteles de carne and a bowl of tremo\u00e7os, pickled lupini beans. <\/span>Through the juicy yellow, I could see something floating murkily. Big slices of red caju, candied in syrup, gathered at the bottom. The flavor was entirely new to me: sweet, sour, with a distinctly tropical floral funk and a light pungency that I can only describe as having notes of asphalt or gasoline, but in a good way. For most Brazilians, the owners told me later, the taste is one of nostalgia.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Though its true origin is sometimes the subject of debate, the drink became popular in the 1970s as a specialty of the now-closed Pandoro, a venerable S\u00e3o Paulo bar, where it was made with vodka and commercial caju juice and jam. \u201cCaju Amigo is a casual, unpretentious, simple cocktail,\u201d says Luciana Chedid, food and beverage operations manager at S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s <\/span>Capim Santo<\/span><\/a>, which also has a version on the menu. \u201cThe name comes from the expression <\/span>V\u00ea um caju, amigo<\/span><\/i>,\u201d apparently a constant refrain from Pandoro customers\u2014<\/span>Bring me a caju, my friend.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<\/section>\n <\/a><\/p>\n This tribute to the Brazilian classic uses orgeat and feni to replicate fresh cashew fruit flavor.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n It\u2019s now familiar across Brazil, with S\u00e3o Paulo still its most passionate audience. But it\u2019s only recently, amid growing interest in retro cocktails and the <\/span>Brazilian classics<\/span><\/a>, that the drink has been widely reinterpreted in a more artisanal way, using fresh fruit and housemade juices and compotes. Many bars and restaurants have their own versions, and these days, you\u2019re more likely to see cacha\u00e7a in a craft Caju Amigo than you are vodka. At Tordesilhas, for example, the <\/span>Caju Amigo<\/span><\/a> is made with high-quality white cacha\u00e7a, as well as cashew juice, preserves and syrup, which are all made in the restaurant.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n A Caju Amigo made from fresh caju juice and fruit is a delicious thing, but also fleeting\u2014often a special treat for spring and summer. \u201cThe key ingredient is a seasonal fruit, meaning it\u2019s not available year-round,\u201d explains Gabriela Bigarelli, a beverage consultant for S\u00e3o Paulo\u2019s Michelin-starred <\/span>Man\u00ed<\/span><\/a>. When they\u2019re available\u2014only during the harvest season, between September and January, Bigarelli says\u2014the restaurant serves cashew apples in a caju ceviche, cutting the flesh into cubes and eliminating waste by using the remainder to make a Caju Amigo with cacha\u00e7a and cashew soda.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The Caju Amigo is also making its way stateside: There\u2019s a version, heavily adapted, on the menu at <\/span>Cana<\/span><\/a>, a Brazilian-inspired bar in Washington, D.C., that opened in fall 2024. Founder Radovan Jankovic had traveled back to Brazil with his wife, who grew up there, many times over the years, and the couple was embedded in D.C.\u2019s Brazilian community. Cana was born from the observation that Brazilian cocktail culture and cuisine had yet to break through in the city.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n The <\/span>Caju Amigo at Cana<\/span><\/a> is more of a tribute than an exact replica. \u201cInstead of relying solely on the caju fruit, we drew inspiration from tiki-style layering and created a cashew orgeat,\u201d made with not only bottled caju juice but also roasted cashew nuts, absent in the traditional drink, explains co-founder Marko Bogdanovic. The syrup is clarified and mixed with a blend of two cacha\u00e7as and a splash of <\/span>feni<\/span><\/a>, the cashew fruit\u2013based spirit from Goa, India. Still, the simple idea behind the drink is the same as for its cousin in Brazil. Caju has the power to \u201cnaturally lift and enhance the flavor of cacha\u00e7a,\u201d Bogdanovic says, \u201cas if they were always meant to share the same glass.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/section>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n <\/p>\n![\"Caju](\"https:\/\/punchdrink.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Inline-Brazil-Cashew-Cocktail-Caju-Amigo-Recipe.jpg\")
<\/p><\/div>\n<\/section>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/punchdrink.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Social-Cana-Caju-Amigo-Recipe.jpg\")
<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nCana\u2019s Caju Amigo<\/span><\/h3>\n