Beer and botequins

I'm not much of a beer drinker. Occasionally I’ll crave a Blue Moon with pizza or a Corona with guacamole and chips, and yes there was a time when I counted down the days until $1 Bud Ice Night at a certain bar (back when Zima was in style). But in Brazil, I’m all about beer. When I’m not sipping a fresh fruit juice or caipirinha of course.

Brazilians love their beer and although there are a few ways they like to drink it, one thing is very important: it has to be extremely cold.

On the beach, most people usually drink from uma lata (a can). When groups of friends get together, it's common to order a few garrafas which are similar in size to an American 40 oz bottle.

The beer is then divided among everyone in little glasses, and it's always nice and frosty.

And then there’s chopp (pronounced show-peh), Brazilian draft beer.

A light pilsner, chopp is perfect by itself or with just about any type of meal. And it’s what you’ll find most Cariocas drinking at botequins, open-air bars where loud and lively crowds often spill onto the street.

In the photo above, it might seem like a chopp is the same size as a pint of beer, but it's actually a lot smaller. And, what's even better in my opinion are choppinhos –- little chopps. They're perfect for slow sippers like myself who always seem to end up with luke-warm beer.

There are many places that Cariocas go to tomar um chopp, but my favorite place of all is Jobi. When I was living in Brazil, my friend Mona planned a 2-week trip to visit me -- and ended up staying a month. We spent many nights laughing and practicing our Portuguese over chopps at Jobi. And without fail, everytime we were there, she had to pay tribute to her new favorite bar by singing the Gypsy Kings song Djobi Djoba.

Jobi is a great place to sample salgadinhos (Brazilian snacks or literally translated –- little salties) such as bolinhos de bacalhau (salt cod fritters) and coxinhas (chicken croquettes). They also serve a bunch of traditional Brazilian dishes including my first love, frango com catupiry (chicken smothered in a cream cheese-like sauce).

For our first night out on this past trip, Daniel and I shared chopps with a group of friends at Bracarense, one of Rio’s most classic botequins, and then had a midnight meal of carne seca (salted beef that's dried in the sun) at Informal just a few blocks away.

It was a sticky night, but that didn't stop me from first ordering my favorite bar snack, um caldo de feijão (black bean soup) which comes with dried pork rinds and diced parsley. Served steaming hot, it’s a great thing to slurp while nursing a cold chopp.

Since glasses of chopp are small, it's normal to order round after round and pay at the end of the evening. To keep track, waiters keep a running count with numbered coasters. And even though chopps are often a little more expensive than canned or bottled beer, at just 1-2 reais each (50 cents to $1), they're still an unbelievable bargain.


Bracarense
Rua José Linhares, 85
Leblon

Informal
Rua Humberto de Campos, 646
Leblon

Jobi
Av. Ataulfo de Paiva, 1166
Leblon