Summer’s almost here and I find myself reaching for those lighter summery drinks. And so while I enjoy mojitos and mint juleps, I really like caiprinhas (even if half the time I feel like I’m mispronouncing the word).

At the special happy hour at Ciudad last week spotlighting Taste of the Nation, I ordered the caipirinha which was only $4.50. It was good but went down too easy! Good thing we had some tacos to go with our drinks.

carnitas taco

potato taco

chorizo taco

Ciudad

445 South Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 486-5171

After Ciudad, we headed over to the FOUR happy hour at Checkers. Yes, two happy hours means double the fun!

Last week, Checkers was highlighting cachaca which is the main ingredient in caipirinhas. They served a traditional version but I opted for the rhubarb.

Rhubarb Caipirinha

It was light and lovely, a blush pink with a tart stalk of rhubarb as a garnish. I could have gone for another!

Checkers Downtown

FOUR on Thursdays, 4-8 p.m.

535 S. Grand Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90071

Mojito and Caipirinha

After what seemed like centuries (only a few days), I had another caipirinha. This time at Malo, a famed tequila bar but I am not into the crazy-making juice at times and opted for a caipirinha with the fresh seasonal berry (they were featuring strawberry). You could have “normal,” I suppose but what’s the fun in that?

It was the strongest one I tried all week and well worth its $8 price tag.

Malo

4326 West Sunset Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90029-2112
(323) 664-1011