Ingredients
Traditional
- 1guaraná bastão, or 3 tbsp grated guaraná
- water
Syrup
- 30 gguaraná powder or grated bastão
- 500 mlwater
- 400 gsugar
- juice of 1 lime
To serve
- chilled sparkling water
- ice
Directions
- Stir and drink it as it is: cloudy, bitter, faintly astringent and strongly caffeinated.
- Simmer for 10 minutes, then take it off the heat and leave it to infuse for 30 minutes.
- Strain it through a fine cloth, pressing hard.
- Return it to the pan with the sugar, heat gently until dissolved, then simmer for 5 minutes to a light syrup.
- Stir in the lime juice off the heat, which lifts it and stops the syrup tasting flat. Bottle it and keep it refrigerated for up to a month.
- Add the sparkling water last and pour it down the side of the glass, so that it keeps its gas.
- Taste and adjust as you go.
Technique
- The seed carries roughly twice the caffeine of a coffee bean by weight, and the effect comes on slowly and lasts.
- The bastão is guaraná seed paste dried into a hard cylinder, and it keeps for years.
- The Sateré-Mawé of Maués in Amazonas have cultivated the plant for centuries and hold it as its origin.
Substitutions
- Guaraná powder, sold in health food shops, in place of a bastão.
- Cane sugar or a little honey for the syrup.
Variations
- Çapó, the plain traditional drink with nothing added.
- With lime and no sugar at all.
- Guaraná syrup poured over açaí.
History
The Satere-Mawe of Maues in Amazonas have cultivated guarana for centuries; Guarana Antarctica has been bottled since 1921.
Frequently asked questions
What is Guaraná?
Guaraná is a drink from Brazil: sweet soda made from Amazonian guarana seed, Brazil’s other national drink. The Satere-Mawe of Maues in Amazonas have cultivated guarana for centuries; Guarana Antarctica has been bottled since 1921.
How long does Guaraná take to make?
Guaraná takes 15 min of preparation and 20 min of cooking. The recipe makes about 1 litre of syrup. It is rated easy to make.
What can I substitute in Guaraná?
Yes, within limits. Guaraná powder, sold in health food shops, in place of a bastão. Cane sugar or a little honey for the syrup.
