Here’s something I’m sure you didn’t know: cachaça, the national spirit of Brazil, is arguably the Americas’ (north and south) oldest distillate, beating tequila, rum, bourbon and pisco.
Since the early 1500s, when the Portuguese first colonised Brazil with the intention of cultivating large quantities of sugar cane to feed the hungry European market, cachaça has been a staple within Brazil, and has a steady, though still somewhat small, following around the world.
What is cachaça?
Like tequila in Mexico, pisco in Peru, and bourbon in the U.S., cachaça is an exclusively Brazilian product that can only be produced in Brazil.
Cachaça is a distillate made from fermented and distilled freshly-pressed sugar cane juice. This gives it a fresher, more vegetal and generally less sweet aroma and taste than its cousin rum, which is made from molasses. While it is often classified as a Brazilian rum in countries that do not yet recognise the cachaça classification, it is distinctly in a class all of its own.
An alcohol volume of 38% – 48% means that nuanced differences are easily noted between the 3000+ legally registered cachaça brands. But what sets this spirit the most apart from other distillates is the vast variety of mostly-native woods in which the cachaças are stored and aged, adding even further complexity to this wonderful drink.
Each cachaça has a unique personality thanks to factors such as the:
- Type of sugar cane being used
- Soil and climate in which the sugar cane is grown
- Material of the pot stills used for the distillation, and
- The sensorial properties that are imparted by the wood barrel when the cachaça is aged.
These factors combine to produce unique and exclusive cachaças that appeal to everyone’s particular tastes.
Additional factors that mark a quality cachaça are the quality of the sugar cane, the proximity of the sugar cane fields to the distillery, the cleanliness of the distillery, the distillery´s dedication to precise fermentation times and the meticulous control of the distillation process, as well as thorough filtration of the final product – these ensure a clear, safe, and enjoyable cachaça that can be appreciated pure or mixed in drinks and co*cktails.
White vs aged cachaça
Cachaça is appreciated both white and aged. White cachaça, often referred to asprata(silver), is rested for up to a year to soften the taste and aroma of the cachaça, either in stainless steel vats or else in large barrels of specific types of wood that are guaranteed to impart only the very slightest of aromas and flavours. White cachaça is most commonly used in Brazil’s national, and widely popular, co*cktail, the Caipirinha.
Aged cachaça, often referred to asouro(gold) is, as mentioned, stored or aged in various types of wood for different lengths of time. There is a distinction between stored cachaça and aged cachaça, with stored cachaça being cachaça that is kept in barrels of 1000 or more litres for less than a year, and aged cachaça being that which is kept in barrels of no more than 700 litres for at least 1 year. Cachaça is then further classified as premium (when the bottle contains 100% aged cachaça) and extra premium (a bottle containing 100% aged cachaça that has been aged for a minimum of three years).
Why cachaça?
Simply put, because this unique spirit is delicious and superbly versatile. Opt for a clear white cachaça to add to a co*cktail, or select one of the many aged cachaças on which to sip and savour the delicate nuances of wood barrels that can only be found in Brazil – either way, you won’t be disappointed. You can get your hands on some excellent cachaças here.
