Did you know that in Brazil, there are about a 100 different terms for Cachaça?

The Brazilian are not messing around when it comes to their native spirit. Because if you call something “abre coração” which means “heart opener” or “bafo de tigre” which means “tiger breath” or even more creative “limpa olho” which translates to “eyewash” who would not want to drink it?

Other, more common names that you might have heard include pinga, caninha or simply aguardente de cana: cane distillate. 

Because simply put, that is what Cachaça is. A cane distillate made in Brazil.  Brazil has a protection designation of origin on cacacha, meaning that it can only be made in Brazil. Most artisanal Cachaça is made in Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, but cachaça is also produced in 

São Paulo, Bahia,Pernambuco and Ceará. Before this PDO, cachaca was often labeled as “Brazilian Rum”

Brazil is the biggest producer of sugarcane and exporter of sugarcane sugar in the world. (the country that produces most sugar in the world is India, but that includes different types of sugar)

Brazil's hot and humid climate is perfect for sugarcane production, and the grass became an important source of income for Brazil quickly after it came to the country. Sugarcane was officially introduced to Brazil in 1532, and at that time, sugar was worth about the same as gold.

Countless slaves were working at the plantations that quickly popped up throughout Brazil. They were planting and harvesting the precious grass, they would use leftover and discarded cane chalks to create a fermented cane juice with a low ABV which was called “garapa”  which was later distilled to reach a higher alcohol content. The distilled beverage was then called cachaca 

This meant that in the first years, cachaca was a very rough, and sometimes dangerous concoction, as it was not produced under very safe conditions. It was mainly consumed by slaves and would have a bad reputation. In fact, the Portuguese tried to outlaw it, not to protect the health of the slaves, but to protect the sales of their own grappa but failed.

Traditionally, the fermentation of cachaca was started with “fuba” which is a type of corn flour. However, according to Brazilian legislation, officially this is not allowed. To make cachaca, raw, uncooked sugarcane is added to this fermentation and the fermented base is distilled traditionally in a copper pot still, but other types of distilling are also allowed, unless it is an Cachaça de Alambique which has to be a 100% distilled in copper pot still. Cachaca must have an ABV between 38% and 48%. It is allowed to add sugar to cachaca after distillation, but only up to 6 grams per litre. If more sugar is added it is called a “Cachaça Adoçada”. These extra sweet cacacha can contain up to 30 grams of added sugar per litre. After distillation, Cachaca can also be aged.  Two terms that you might come across when it comes to ageing in Cachaca are Cachaça envelhecida and Cachaça armazenada. 

The first may be used to describe cachaca that has been aged in a wooden container with a maximum capacity of 700 litres and is aged in there for a minimum of 1 year. A bottle labelled as such must contain at least 50% of actual Cachaça envelhecida, the remaining is allowed to be unaged or differently aged Cachaça. Cachaça armazenada is also wooden aged cachaça, but does not meet the other standards of the Cachaça envelhecida. If aged cachaca is mixed, the age statement on the bottle has to refer to the youngest cachaca  in the blend. Sometimes these aged cachacas are also described as “ouro” (gold) or amarela (yellow) cachaca. The most cachaca that is consumed however, is unaged and described as “prata” (silver) or “classica” “branca” or tradicional. The silver cachaca is often the one used in the most well-known cachaca cocktail, the caipirinha. 

Two recent trends in cacacha seem to focus around sustainability. Four of the ten top trending brands for 2024 are sustainable, which is a great development, and the use of different wood types in ageing, including native wood.