Words by Matt Dursum
Brazil’s national liquor is more than just caipirinhas. From complex and barrel-aged to crystal clear and resembling fresh pressed sugar cane, Cachaça holds its own as one of the most timeless and versatile flavors in the world of spirits.
What is Cachaça
Cachaça, pronounced ka-sha-sa, is Brazil’s most popular spirit. It’s made by distilling sugar cane juice, similar to the rhum agricoles of the French Caribbean. Its cousin, rum, on the other hand, is usually made with molasses, giving it a richer and heavier taste.
For cachaça to be called cachaça, it needs to be distilled in Brazil from sugarcane juice and bottled at an alcohol volume of 38% to 48%. Most cachaça never leaves Brazil, although mixologists around the world are waking up to its potential and hunting for the premium stuff.
Distillation, Sugar Cane, and a Brutal History
Like rum, the birth of cachaça lies in slavery and sugar. Sugar cane, Saccharum officinarum, is the tall tropical grass grown for its sucrose-rich stalks. Native to Oceania and Southeast Asia, the perennial plant was soon cultivated in India, China, Polynesia, and eventually the Middle East. However, the cane was notoriously difficult and labor-intensive to cultivate. This kept the crop little more than a global novelty spice.
The biggest problem for the Europeans, other than the labor requirement, was sugarcane’s low tolerance for cold. Few places in Europe could support the tropical plant. Madeira, the Portuguese island off the coast of Morocco, became the most suitable home.
Fast forward to the colonization of the Americas when the Portuguese began taking stalks of sugar over the Atlantic. Soon, a vicious cycle was forged by enslaving people from Africa and forcing them to work on the grueling sugar plantations. The refined sugar and molasses from Brazil and the Americas would wind up in Europe and North America, fueling an insatiable appetite for the substance known as white gold.
It was in these coastal sugar plantations where cachaça was born. Using aguardente stills, likely brought from Madeira, enslaved people began distilling the fermented sugarcane juice and Brazil’s National drink was born.
A Drink for Botanists
Clear cachaça is beloved in bars and beachside kiosks across Brazil. Yet, like rum, cachaça holds up to age and wood very well. Unlike rum, which is often aged in sherry casks or white oak bourbon barrels, distillers in Brazil age their cachaća in a variety of casks made from native wood. This gives the spirit a wide flavor profile that’s just now being experimented with by artisanal distillers.
For many small craft distillers, the complex flavors and aromas from indigenous wood are only part of cachaça’s powers of infusion. Herbs like Jambu, a mouth-numbing Amazonian plant, impart new flavors that are unlike anything found in other parts of the world. Today, cachaças infused with botanicals from the Amazon and the Atlantic Forest are becoming hugely popular.
Throughout the country’s bars and distilleries that serve the beautiful drink, known as cachaçarias, there’s a growing popularity, especially among the country’s youth who are falling in love with its versatility and the culture surrounding it. Inside amongst the live samba is usually an assortment of jars full of various homemade cachaças to choose from. Balancing plastic shot glasses in hand, customers maneuver through dancers and jovial crowds to get to their table and enjoy their half-spilled drinks.
Now, the Magical Caipirinha
Take two limes and cut them into quarters. Place them in a glass and muddle the soft flesh. Make sure to muddle at least a little bit of the skin to release the citrus aromas. Next, add the sugar. Two to four teaspoons of organic white sugar or how I like it, raw unrefined cane sugar works. Muddle the lines and sugar together and pour in the cachaça. One, two, three, even four shots is acceptable depending on the size of the glass and your schedule the next day. Finally, fill the remaining space of the glass with ice and shake. Serve in whatever glass you like, turn on some samba, and enjoy.