I've found that people either love or hate kumquats -- finding folks in the middle ground is rare. Me? If I'm fortunate enough to find some, I pop them like Skittles.

Of course, the strong citrus flavor makes it ideal for the caipirinha, a cocktail that I believe is the ideal "test bench" for new cocktail ideas. 

As Serious Eats says:

Many people have never tasted a kumquat. Look beyond the goofy moniker and you'll find a small winter citrus with a sweet rind and tart flesh, making it the perfect ingredient for a seasonal twist on a Latin favorite.

Raphael Reyes and New York's Yerba Buena Perry restaurant now present...

Kumquat Caipirinha

• 5 kumquats
• 3 chunks of lime
• 1 oz. simple syrup
• 3/4 oz. Cointreau
• 1/2 sprig rosemary
• 2 oz. Leblon cachaca

Put the kumquats, lime, rosemary, and simple syrup in a shaker glass. Muddle.

Add cointreau, cachaca, and 5 or 6 ice cubes. Shake for 5 seconds. Dirty pour (pour without straining, ice and all) into a rocks glass.

From The Boston Herald:

Over at Woodward, the restaurant in the new Ames Hotel on Court Street, head bartender William “English Bill” Codman says an influx of spirits - such as Bols Genever gin and older varieties of rums - will grace Boston cocktail menus in the months ahead.

“People will be taking the old-school stuff and pulling it into the new century,” said the cocktail guru. At Woodward, Codman is already doing that - taking classic ingredients such as Green Chartreuse, which he mixes with clove, rosemary, lime and cachaca to make a Dedham Winter. Come spring, Codman’s drink menu will feature two other trends he says will start popping up on cocktail menus: house-made infusions and cordials.

Woodward's Dedham Winter

• 5 pieces of clove
• 2 rosemary sprigs
• 3/4 oz. simple syrup
• 1/2 oz. lime juice
• 2 oz. apple cider
• 1/2 oz. Green Chartreuse 
• 1 1/4 oz. Cabana Cachaca
• Ice

Muddle rosemary and clove. Add liquids and shake. Strain into a tall glass filled with ice. Garnish with rosemary sprig.

I've been going through this phase where I basically want to make a syrup out of everything. So far, I've made syrups with ginger, chai tea, cloves, star anise... you name it. 

Keeping bottles of these homemade syrups handy has been great for entertaining. While the traditional caipirinha is always a crowd-pleaser, substituting the sugar or simple syrup with a flavored syrup is almost always sure to convince folks to come back for seconds.

Inspired by the continued popularity of the watermelon/jalapeno caipirinha on this site, I decided to try my hand at a serrano chili syrup. I've always liked serranos more than other chilis — not only do they look really cool in a dish when sliced into 1/4" thick wheels, but the taste is strong without being habenero-overpowering. 

I started with two cups of water and about twelve serrano chilis, sliced.

After bringing it to a boil, I let it simmer for a half hour. (Hint: You'll want to turn the vent on.) Every so often, I gave the serrano slices a little mash with a wooden spoon. Then I strained out the solids and put the water back into the saucepan.

Simple syrup is usually a one-to-one mixture of sugar and water. I started with one cup and added quarter-cups until I got the flavor that I wanted. (After all, sugar-water was the original medium by which the Scoville scale for determining pepper piquancy was based.) One-and-three-quarter cups of sugar turned out to be perfect for my tastes.

I bottled the finished product after it cooled down, adding some vodka to stave off mold per Camper's recommendation. 

That was Sunday. Tonight, I actually put it into an otherwise traditional caipirinha. The result? I could easily drink a few of these before realizing how much trouble I could get into. The chili flavor gives a nice little zing at the end of every sip, and your lips are left with a pleasant tingle when you finish.

I now leave you with:

Succubus' Kiss Caipirinha

• 2 oz cachaça
• One lime, ends removed, cut into half-circles
• 1/2 oz serrano chili simple syrup

Place lime slices and syrup into a rocks glass and muddle. Add cachaça. Fill glass with ice. Shake hard and serve.

Perhaps the loneliest category on this site is the one for food recipes featuring cachaça. When I see one, I jump.

This oyster recipe from the Culinary Institute of America, featuring a caipirinha granita, reads like an episode of Chopped after the producers ran out of ideas for the secret-ingredient baskets. Nevertheless, it sounds delicious.

Fresh Oysters with Cilantro-Lime Caipirinha Granita

• Two limes, peeled, cut into wedges
• 1 1/2 tsp. sugar   
• 2 tbsp. cilantro, finely chopped
• 6 oz cachaça
• 12 oysters on the half shell
• Sea salt and feshley cracked black pepper to taste
• Micro cilantro sprigs for garnish

Preparation

1. Muddle the limes, sugar and chopped cilantro in a bowl; add the cachaça, salt and pepper to the bowl and mix well.
2. Pulse the mixture in a food processor.
3. Pour mixture into a shallow pan and freeze it, scraping with a fork every hour until it's fluffy and completely frozen.
4. To serve, place a spoonful of the granita over each oyster and garnish with sprigs of micro cilantro.

You can find some great tasting notes over at Bob's Wine and Cheese Blog, featuring seven cachaças:

• Vale Verde
• Fulo 1827
• Salinas
• Espirito de Minas
• Magnifica Ouro
• Domina Suave
• Germana