In the early 70s, in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais state city capital in Brazil, Mr. José Rios, husband to Amália and father of Fernando and Jaime, developed a cachaça drink, very close to what we call in Brazil a ‘batida de limão’ (lime’s drink/caipirinha).
The difference was the exact proportions of the mixture, that combined a clear version of a local cachaça, strained lime juice, and sugar 🍋
Back then, the drink was made in very small quantities, very few litters to be exact, and was given to a limited audience only: family and closest friends.
The stimulating flavor, strong and sweet, rapidly got caught in people’s taste, and the demand for a bigger production started to rise – in spite of that, Mr. Rios Senior kept his small and frequent production, homemade, small amounts, disputed by the little elected to receive one of the bottles 🍋
In the late 90s, Mr. Rios’ son Jaime got his fathers’ recipe and followed his steps on the production of the drink; still producing small batches, craft style. Every now and then, when somebody tasted the drink and drank a few too much of it, curious effects arose, some from the alcohol quantity and others we can’t explain well where they come from…
By that time, the drink got his name, Santo Jaime 🍋
In 2003, after Mr. Rios Senior death, his grandson Filipe asked his uncle for the recipe and started to craft it in a bit larger batches.
By that time, he developed Santo Jaime’s first logo and concept. Still not being sold, but given to family and friends, the latter started to ask for it at parties and celebrations – and so the idea of transforming this production into a regular business started to grow 🍋
Santo Jaime 