Why You Should Be Sipping Cachaça, Brazil's Most Popular Spirit
Not to be confused with rum, this sugarcane-based spirit is more than just an ingredient in your Caipirinha cocktail.
Bryan Gardner
Cachaça is a distilled spirit with a rich history and a flavor profile that's fruity, earthy, and totally distinctive. Produced only in Brazil, cachaça is deeply rooted in Brazilian culture and is the country's national spirit. Get ready to explore what cachaça is, what it tastes like, the different types of cachaça, and how to enjoy this wonderful Brazilian spirit—according to top beverage professionals.
Related: What's the Difference Between Irish Whiskey and Scotch Whisky?
What Is Cachaça?
Cachaça (pronounced ka-SHAH-sa) is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented sugarcane juice. It's been produced in Brazil since the 1500s when the first sugarcane mills were founded, making it one of the oldest spirits in South America. Brazilian natives enjoyed fermented sugarcane juice as an alcoholic beverage, then Portuguese colonists that came to the area discovered this and brought over pot stills to distill the ferment into a hard spirit (which today must be in the range of 38 to 54 percent ABV, according to Brazilian law).
The resulting liquid can be released in an unaged format or transferred into barrels to age. Commonly, these barrels are made of oak, which can be new, used, or even repurposed barrels formerly used to age wine, whiskey, and cognac. In addition to the traditional aging in oak, cachaça can also be aged in barrels crafted from Brazilian hardwoods like amburana, araribá, amendoim, and jequitibá. These remarkable trees have adapted to thrive in hot and humid climates while warding off insects, developing tight-grained and dense wood, which contributes its own unique character to the finished spirit.
What Cachaça Tastes Like
Cachaça offers a range of flavors, with some types showcasing fruity and floral notes, while others have a more robust and earthy profile. The aging process in various types of wooden casks further enhances the taste, imparting rich and complex flavors to the final product. "Cachaças run the gamut of flavors—but think banana runts, hints of leather, sourdough bread—and you won't be too far off," says Laura Unterberg, beverage director at The Fox Nashville.
Peter Nevenglosky, CEO and co-founder of Avua' Cachaça, has a simple way to describe this complex spirit: "To the layman, I describe it as a profile between rum and tequila—dry, earthy, but also round and floral."
Similar to wine, the terroir of the growing and production region influences the finished product, says Dragos Axinte, CEO of cachaça brand Novo Fogo. "Cachaça is an agricultural spirit made from sugarcane, and its taste is highly evocative of the place where it's made and the people who make it," Axinte says. "Our distillery is located in the coastal rainforest mountains of Southern Brazil, in Paraná state, surrounded by orchards and banana plantations. This means that the taste of our cachaça is very complex: sweet from the cane, salty from the ocean, tropical from the fruit, and savory from the grasses in the rainforest." He recommends choosing an expression from the north of Brazil if you like hotter, white spirits, or one from the south if you're into spirits aged in American oak barrels.
The Difference Between Cachaça and Rum
Cachaça has a unique flavor profile that sets it apart from other spirits, including rum. Until 2013, it was common to see cachaça labeled as Brazilian rum, but that is no longer permitted. Even though cachaça and rum are related in that they use sugarcane as their base, there are some key differences.
Cachaça must be made in Brazil from fresh sugarcane juice—and the majority of rum is made in the Caribbean and is distilled from molasses. There is a style of rum called Rhum Agricole that is made from sugarcane juice, and it shares more stylistic similarities to cachaça, with grassy and vegetal flavors, along with a distinctive funkiness.
Cachaça uses a broader range of aging vessels (using up to 30 types of wood), giving it a very diverse range of flavor, while most rum is aged in former bourbon barrels made from American oak.
Cachaça can be released without any barrel aging, while most countries that produce rum require it to be aged at least a year.
Types of Cachaça
There are two main styles of cachaça: unaged and aged.
Unaged Cachaça
Also known as white cachaça, this type of cachaça is not aged and is bottled immediately after distillation. It retains the fresh cane juice flavors and is typically used as a cocktail base. White cachaça is also sometimes called clássica (classic), tradicional (traditional), or prata (silver).
Aged Cachaça
Also known as yellow cachaça, this type cachaça of undergoes a significant transformation when aged in wooden barrels, giving it a golden color and adding depth and complexity to the spirit, resulting in a smoother and more refined taste. Aged cachaças are also called ouro (gold) or envelhecida (aged) by producers. Aged cachaça is often sipped on its own, enjoyed neat or on the rocks.
Aged cachaça is divided into two categories: Premium, which is cachaça aged for at least one year, and Extra Premium, which is cachaça aged for at least three years.
As with most spirits, you'll find big-batch, industrially produced brands, as well as more artisanal bottles. Crafted in small batches by traditional methods, artisanal cachaça offers a more authentic and unique experience and is highly regarded for its quality. "Artisanal production is hand-harvested, pressed quickly, and pot distilled, while industrial is machine harvested in burned fields and column distilled," says Nevenglosky.
What to Look for When Buying Cachaça
Cachaça has been gaining popularity beyond Brazil's borders—many people credit the Brazil Olympics in 2016 for increased interest in Brazilian food, drink, and culture. It's now easier than ever to find various cachaça brands at your local wine and spirits store.
If you're looking to explore different flavors and types of cachaça, Axinte encourages considering premium or small-batch producers. "As with every spirit, the more handcrafted quality, the purer its form, the better the aroma and taste, and the lesser the impact of alcohol to your body," he says. His recommendation is to look for a cachaça distilled in a copper pot still, which will likely carry some local heritage. "If the bottle you are eyeing costs less than $20, it was made industrially in large quantities, and I suggest putting it in your gas tank instead of drinking it," he says.
Brandon Ristaino, managing member and beverage director at Good Lion Hospitality, agrees that not all brands are created equal. "A customer looking for a great bottle of cachaça should look for a trusted brand," he says. "While there are other brands with integrity, we tend to side with Avua and Novo Fogo expressions."
It's essential to look for one aspect we sometimes forget about when purchasing fun products like spirits: ethical production practices. "Sugarcane is a cash crop, and the history of rum and cachaça is a dark one,” Unterberg says. “Look for a company that sources their sugarcane without burning down the dwindling rainforest, without over-harvesting the Brazilian hardwood trees used to make the traditional barrels, and treats their employees and purveyors fairly—through limited pesticide usage and equitable pay."
How to Use Cachaça in Cocktails
Cachaça is best known for its role in the famous Caipirinha (KAI-pur-EEN-ya) cocktail, Brazil's national drink. To make a Caipirinha, muddle fresh lime wedges with sugar or simple syrup, and then add cachaça and ice cubes. You can add various fruits and botanicals to your recipe; great variations include the Ginger Caipirinha, Passion Fruit Caipirinha, and Lemon Caipirinha.
White Cachaça in Mixed Drinks
White cachaça can also be used in classic cocktails like the Mojito—you can substitute it for white rum in various mixed drinks and anywhere you use clear spirits. Nevenglosky recommends swapping it in for the gin in a Negroni. Devin Chapnick, bartender at No Hard Feelings and owner and founder of Convenient Cocktail Co., suggests using cachaça as a split base (blending two spirits in one drink) in a Daiquiri, or just replacing the rum with cachaça.
Aged Cachaça in Cocktails
Consider using aged cachaça anywhere you would brown spirits like whiskey, tequila, or aged rum. "Old Fashioneds are a great way to enjoy aged cachaça—and easy to make, all you need is sugar, bitters, and ice," says Danny Ronen, founder at DC Spirits and partner at Shaker & Spoon. Another great application would be in a classic Manhattan.
Sip It Neat
Don't feel up to releasing your inner master mixologist? You can keep things extremely simple when enjoying premium cachaça: sip it neat or just with a couple of ice cubes. For a summertime refresher or when lounging by the pool, Jacob Lesitsky, bartender at Kojo, suggests silver cachaça and club soda with a splash of passionfruit or guava nectar and a squeeze of lime. And in wintertime, try a little splash in your coffee.
Drink It Like the Brazilians
Perhaps the best way is to simply enjoy cachaça as the Brazilians do: "The tradition I love best is called the tabelinha,” says Nevenglosky. “Tabelinha refers to the back-and-forth of a soccer ball between two players in a friendly game often seen on the beach in Ipanema—and it's also used to describe the tradition and interplay between a neat pour of Cachaça and beer—the two flavors playing against each other as you pass between sips of one then the other."
