The Wine Reference🍷 SupportBrazil: Cachaça
Brazil's national spirit, made all over the country, with famous craft cachaça from Salinas in Minas Gerais.
How it's made
Distilled from fermented cane juice to 38–48% ABV. It may be unaged or aged in native woods such as amburana as well as oak.
Freshly pressed sugar cane juice is fermented, in small farms often with wild yeasts and a cornmeal starter, then distilled. Craft cachaça is usually made in copper pot stills (alambiques), while big brands use column stills.
History
Cachaça was first made on the sugar plantations of colonial Brazil in the 1500s, which makes it one of the oldest spirits in the Americas. It went from a drink of plantation workers to a national symbol, and Brazil now protects the name by law.
Ageing and label terms
Unaged cachaça is called prata, branca or clássica. Aged cachaça can rest in oak or in native Brazilian woods such as amburana, jequitibá and bálsamo, which give very different spicy, nutty or floral notes; 'envelhecida', 'premium' and 'extra premium' mark longer ageing.
Styles
Clear, grassy cachaças for mixing, gentle ones rested in neutral wood, and amber cachaças from native woods or oak for sipping.
Rules and protected names
Cachaça must be made in Brazil from sugar cane juice and bottled between 38% and 48% abv. Small amounts of sugar are allowed; above that limit the label must say 'adoçada' (sweetened).
How to serve and classic cocktails
The Caipirinha with lime and sugar is Brazil's national cocktail. Batidas with fruit and condensed milk, and simply cachaça with tonic, are also popular.
With food
Feijoada, pão de queijo, fried snacks like coxinha and grilled meats from a churrasco.
Good to know
For years the US called cachaça 'Brazilian rum'; it has been recognised there as a distinct product of Brazil since 2013.
Producers
- Leblon
- Avuá
- Ypióca
- Cachaça 51
Bottles to try
Leblon Cachaça
Grassy fresh cane, green banana, citrus and a light vanilla note.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: Rested briefly in French oak casks
Distilled in copper pot stills in Minas Gerais from fresh sugar-cane juice, not molasses, then rested for a short time in casks before bottling.
Serve: In a Caipirinha
Novo Fogo Silver Cachaça
Fresh and fruity: banana, green cane, citrus and a light peppery finish.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: Unaged, rested in stainless steel
An organic cachaça made in Morretes, in the Brazilian state of Paraná, between the coastal rainforest and the mountains. The cane is hand-cut and the fresh juice is distilled in copper pot stills.
Serve: In a Caipirinha
Avuá Amburana
Cinnamon, clove and marzipan over fresh grassy cane; soft and exotic.
Strength: 40% · Age and cask: Aged in amburana wood
Cachaça from fresh-pressed sugar cane, pot-distilled in Rio de Janeiro state, then aged in barrels of amburana, a native Brazilian wood that gives spicy, sweet aromas.
Serve: Neat, or in an Old Fashioned with a dash of bitters
Cachaça 51 Pirassununga 51
Grassy, fresh cane with a slightly sweet, peppery bite.
Age and cask: Unaged
Made by Companhia Müller de Bebidas in Pirassununga, São Paulo state, it is the best-selling cachaça in Brazil. Distilled from fresh fermented sugar cane juice, it is the everyday caipirinha base.
Serve: In a caipirinha with lime and sugar
More rum & cane regions
Explore all spirits in the interactive guide
The Wine Reference newsletter
New wines, stories and career guides, one email a week at most.
Over 18s only. Unsubscribe any time with one click. Your email is stored securely by Kit and never shared.
Support The Wine Reference
This guide is free, with no paywall. If it helped you choose a bottle, you can buy me a glass and keep it growing.
🍷 Buy me a glass