Bonnie: “Cachaça?” asked the puzzled bartender.

It was the early ’90s in Beaver Creek, where I was skiing fresh powder with a German restaurateur. Exhausted from skiing, we skied to our lodging for an après-ski drink where Klaus ordered us caipirinhas.

The bartender said he’d be glad to make them; just tell him the ingredients.

“You’ll need lots of fresh limes, some brown sugar, a muddler and cachaça.

“It’s a sugar-cane rum,” Klaus explained, telling the bartender to make it with rum, while whispering to me it wouldn’t exactly be a true caipirinha — the classic Brazilian drink — but I’d get the idea.

He instructed the bartender to first rinse and halve a couple of limes and place them into a wide glass, add some sugar (brown or granulated), muddle (crush) the limes with a muddling stick, add crushed ice and then pour some cachaça over it — or, since he didn’t have any cachaça, some rum. One sip and I was hooked!

Problem was I had a hard time finding places that either had cachaça or served caipirinhas. But that’s changed dramatically in the last decade. Our Bite of the Best team has even been offered varieties of high-end cachaça to sample, the most recent being Agua Luca, a smooth one, filtered 12 times.

Luckily I had that on hand when I received the Purista drink mixes to test. Their Caipirinha cocktail mix contains only sugar-cane juice, key-lime juice and natural flavor. I also like that it contains 20 percent juice with nothing artificial.

To make a caipirinha using the mix, just combine one part drink mix and one part cachaça. It couldn’t be easier — and I’m not one who usually uses or even likes drink mixes.

The other Purista Cocktail Mixes are also good, ranging from 22 (Mojito) to 59 percent juice (Margarita), with 50 to 70 calories per 1.5-ounce serving. Caipirinha cocktail mix is just my favorite.

Bryan: I only really heard about cachaça (Brazil’s prized national liquor) a few months back, when I received an email about National Cachaça Day. So if you are like me and a bit unfamiliar with the word “caipirinha,” it refers to Brazil’s national cocktail, a beverage made with cachaça, sugar and lime. Cachaça is by far Brazil’s most popular alcoholic beverage. Though it is consumed in massive quantities domestically, until recently there has been little knowledge of this drink outside Brazil’s borders. Cachaça is most often confused with rum to the horror of true cachaça enthusiasts. Though similar, Brazil’s spirit is made from the fermentation of sugar-cane juice, rather than the molasses used for most Caribbean rums.

Though I have just been introduced to Purista cocktail mixes, I have to admit that I’ve become an instant fan. I’ve not really come across a quality line of cocktail mixers before. To be honest, it’s not a product I even believed existed. I like to have interesting cocktails for my home bar. I’ll keep a can of lychees, some interesting liquors, juices and soda water, but I’ve never really been one to keep mixes around. They always seem too sugary, too powerful, too much.

Purista is something completely different. They maintain integrity by really focusing on ingredients, using only organic sugar cane and lime for their bottled caipirinha to create a modern, instant version of Brazil’s beloved national cocktail. There is nothing to hide behind. The perfectly balanced sweet and sour lime mixed with the light Brazilian cachaça is one of the most amazing summertime drinks that’s ever touched my lips.

The mixing of a masterful caipirinha is a delicate process of balance. It should be sweet, but not syrupy sweet. It should also be sour, allowing the lime to be the star without actually overpowering the more delicate flavor of the cane juice liquor. Purista’s combination of natural ingredients hits all the marks and is a truly stylish addition to the home bar.

Aside from the Caipirinha, the Purista line also includes Margarita, Mojito and Mojito Blackberry cocktail mixes. The mixes cost $9.99 at select retail locations.

Eric: When facing most challenges in life, preparation is the key to success. Two years ago, I learned this lesson all too well while holding a bowl of limes, a bunch of mint and standing behind a bar surrounded by a crowd of thirsty people. “Cut, rip, muddle, pour” is a sequence synonymous with the painstaking preparation of the Mojito; a sequence that, when done properly, can make the difference between a good cocktail and a great one, and for which the preparation is essential.

Fresh ingredients mixed properly is the reason a bartender has a job, but it’s also the reason why Purista cocktail mixes have made our list. Aside from fresh ingredients, proper ratios and a good variety, they’re also affordable, authentic and can replace the bartender any day in my apartment.