The caipirinha dates back to 1918, when a mixture of garlic, lime, honey, sugar and cachaça was a popular concoction used in an attempt to prevent the devastating Spanish flu. The cachaça was sourced from the countryside of São Paulo state, and the drink became nicknamed the caipirinha, meaning ‘little one from the countryside’. In 2003 presidential decree no. 4.851 made the caipirinha the official Brazilian drink.