Cachaca

Aloha, all! I was just wondering if anybody is as into Cachaca like I am...Cachaca being a sugarcane spirit I fell in love with in Brazil a couple of years back...tastes like a cross between white rum and white tequila...I basically use it to make the Brazilian national drink...the caipirinha...awesome drink...like the mojito, but no mint...muddle half a lime and three tsp. sugar in a rocks glass, top with ice, fill with cachaca, and shake well...I love this stuff, but they don't sell here in New England...I usually have to road trip to Manhattan or Chicago to buy a case...Some of the bartenders I speak to say they are extremely popular drinks, and what with the price of tequila going through the roof due to overcultivation of the Blue Agave plant, this spirit is becoming very popular...I knew it was going to eventually break big in this country when I went to one bar in Rio de Janeiro that had over 300 different brands in stock...I can't even think that there are that many brands of rum...Just thought I'd ask...good stuff great just for shooting with a lime or even sugared lime...Look for it... Grey

Wow, Chef... you drink some interesting stuff! :wink:

Jes' tryin' to keep up with you guys....

Say I want to claim the title as the first tiki central cachaca pusher!! Here's my post from 7/11 under the thread "Demerara Rum and Intoxica":

Posted: 2002-07-11 10:40

Everyone needs to go out and try some Cachaca (last c has a squiggle under it)... it's new to my market as far as I know... it's a native Brazilian liquor distilled straight from the fermented sugar syrup rather than converting to molasses first as you do in rum... it tastes like a "tequila rum." It's been around since the 1500's in Brazil I think, but only recently has its image improved to make it a worthy cocktail and sipping liquor for rich americans. It's pronounced ka-sha-sa

The main drink is a great alternative to a margarita. Tastes much more exotic and tropical: Mix a jigger or two of Cachaca with a couple jiggers of fresh lime juice and a couple of teaspoons of brown sugar. shake with ice and pour... it's a Caipirinha (kai-per-een-ya i think)

Well, Sir,I digress to you...Not bad for a 'Bama Boy :lol: But I don't like brown sugar in it and have only seen limes, not juice in it...it looks kinda cool and rustic with all the lime pulp and rind in it...but give yourself a pat on the back for tootin' the horn on this one! Grey

My husband got one of those drinks when we went to a Brazilian restaurant on a trip to New York City. Yummy!

Haven't tried finding the liquor out here in Texas, though.

Stefani

according to an argentinian friend, we are getting royally screwed on the price of this stuff here in the states: it's the cheapest liquor in south america, doled out in massive quantities. at popular venues in brazil, you get your first drink for 50 cents and refills for 25 cents... the same liquor sold for $1/bottle in brazil (cachaca 51) is $20/bottle in atlanta.

Well, yep, you are right about the markup in the States ....still, I figure that it tastes better that a lot of the rum I've had in the Carribean, especially the metallic tasting crap they serve in the Bahamas...and it's nice to have a couple of bottles stashed in the ol' Tiki bar for those that want something different...I tell ya, stocking the bar with those obscure liquors sure helps the feeling that you bar is so full...if for some reason my buds clean me out of the staples, they aren't gonna touch the 30 plus bottles of the other stuff on their own accord...you know, Slivovitz, Armagnac, B&B, Bison Grass vodka, that kind of stuff...and usually the cachaca gets pass over, but I'm thrilled to drink this until the tequila and rum come back into the scene...We'll just have to hope that more of it starts coming into the country and price wars start bringing the price down...Grey

$1 in Brazil and $20 in the states????

Attention Centralites shopping in Brazil: Look for cachaca on the bottom shelf next to the 'Nighttrain'

I have a nasty suspicion that Night Train would cost $20 in Brazil, no?

Did some research and was able to find through my buddy at HiTimes Liquor in Costa Mesa, CA that they have 6 different brands of this elixir and they range in price from $12.00 to $16.00. It comes highly recommended. -TheTikiGuy

The best place to drink a caipirinha...

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2002-05-16/citylife29.html/1/index.html

Hey Cachaça drinkers!

http://www.maria-brazil.org/batidas.htm
http://www.maria-brazil.org/caipirinha.htm
http://www.brazilcommunity.com/en/cuisine_caipirinha_sake.asp

Finally try this google search (with correct spellings):
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Cacha%C3%A7a+Caipiri%C3%B1ha+OR+Caipirinha&btnG=Google+Search

George

Hey Chef,
We got it here in CT. Been drinking caipirinha for about 5 years now. A navy boy told us about it and we did some research. With all things Latin so hot right now we've been getting alot of requests. A high end Brazillian cafe just opened not too far from my store. We carry three brands: Pitu, Pirapora and Pirassununga 51. I'll let you know next time I head up your way and I'll make a delivery. Of course I'll have to test to make sure nothing was harmed during the trip.
~Cab

try looking for a Cachaça called "Nêga Fulô".

it is meant to be smooth, whereas the 51 & pitu are generally referred to as rotgut.

here is a ready-made google search:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Cacha%C3%A7a++%22N%C3%AAga+Ful%C3%B4%22&btnG=Google+Search

and a ready-made Alltheweb search (some interesting stuff!):
http://www.alltheweb.com/search?cat=web&cs=utf-8&l=any&q=Cacha%C3%A7a++%22N%C3%AAga+Ful%C3%B4%22

Aloha, Caber-net...Sounds like a plan! Let me know when you're next up this way! Grey

Articles on both Cachaca and the Caipirinha appeared today in my hometown mullet wrapper:

Cachaca:
http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/living/4277883.htm

Caipirinha:

http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/living/4277884.htm

Just for kicks and giggles I did a search for Caipirinhas and found this thread hiding waaaayyyyyy at the bottom. Does this threads age mean that no one likes them, or that no one 'says' they like them? Have they fallen from grace?

Anyone care to join me for a couple?

I love Caipirinhas. There's a little tapas place not far from us, called Cascal, that makes very tasty ones (they also have an above average rum selection, which of course isn't saying much -- I think they have about 3 or 5 non-Bacardi/Malibu/Myers/Captain Spicypants-or-whatever-the-hell-it's-called rums). They have a variant with lots of fresh orange and lime pieces added that's quite yummy.

I like 'em. We had Tikiskips bottle of Pitu out a couple of months ago, but everyone aside from myself agreed that it tasted like paint thinner and declined to drink any of it. So caipirinhas were off the menu. Eh, it was late anyway.

Oh well, I'll just keep the cachaca and the Campari to myself.

(They hated Campari too. Poor, innocent, delicious Campari. What did it ever do to earn such disdain?)

Ahu

All hail Campari.

And I will be calling my distributors to get a bottle of Captain Spicypants first thing in the morning.

Isn't that your name for Hanford? Because that's what I call him.

Hi guys,

Im amazed that so few people have heard of, let alone tried a Caipirinha!

I started bartending over here in London 12 years ago, and it was the first cocktail I learnt to make, and is just behind the Mojito as customers favourite drinks.

Theres a cachaca brand thats about to launch over there, called Sagatiba.

I heard they were doing something in Miami.

Their website is http://www.sagatiba.com

Any time anyone is over from the U.S, make sure you come and visit us at South London Pacific. First Caipirinha on me

Senor P

Had my first Caipirinha in Boulder last year at a restaurant called Rhumba. I drank 3 of them at 7 bucks a pop, then stopped at a liquor store on the way back to my hotel and bought a bottle of Cachaça to take home with me.

Last March, I visited a friend in Barcelona. There was a little Brazilian bar just down the street from his apartemento run by a grizzled old barkeep who made the most kickass Caipirinhas I've ever tasted. The secret ingredient was a dash of Angostura bitters.

Count me as another lover of Cachaça and Caipirinhas! I have a few Brazilian friends who introduced me to this wonderful drink (which is probably one of the easiest to make, and hardest to screw up). It's absolutely one of my top 3 favorites!

Unfortunately it's not all that cheap here, costing about $22 for a 1 liter bottle of Ypioca. Evidently there are some "new" brands breaking into the US markest, such as Leblon. But it's REALLY expensive at $34 a bottle. Sorry, but when I know that excellent (not pitu) cachaça can be had for $3 a bottle in Brazil, it makes it a bit hard to pay those prices.

Anyway, I've been waiting for it to explode here in the States, but it hasn't quite yet. I think it has the potential to be the "next big thing", but what do I know? :)

Chris

There is a show on Fine Living network that showcases a different countrys liquors each week they had a show on Cachaca recently keep an eye out for it they repeat a lot.

http://www.fineliving.com/fine/thirsty_traveler/episode/0,1663,FINE_10176_27916,00.html

You might have to copy and paste address into browser.

Dean

If you live in the NY area, a really good Cachaca that came onto the market recently is Fazenda Mae de Ouro. Its small production stuff, not like the Pitu or Barriero or Toucano stuff that is industrially made. Makes a killer Caipirinha, it does.

http://www.caipirinha.us/

Noticed a good article on cachaca a couple of weeks ago:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120190755620436659.html

(Here's the Caipirinha recipe included)
*
CAIPIRINHA
1/2 lime, quartered
2 tsp sugar
2 oz cachaça
crushed ice
• Muddle sugar and lime wedges in the bottom of a sturdy, short, flat-bottomed glass. But don't crush too vigorously, or the lime-peel will release overly bitter oils. Add cachaça and crushed ice, and stir.*

I then noticed all the different brands of cachaca available at a local liquor store. I had no idea!

I then noticed all the different brands of cachaca available at a local liquor store. I had no idea!

Cachaça is the third best-selling spirit in the world. (1. Vodka 2. Sujo 3. Cachaça 4. Rum)

Cachaça is the third best-selling spirit in the world. (1. Vodka 2. Sujo 3. Cachaça 4. Rum)

Really? I love the stuff myself and we just featured three drinks with it in our restaurants for our Carnaval '08 promotion. We're using Cachaca 61.

I prefer Leblon. It was very hard to find until the last year of so and now it is everywhere. It has hints of citrus in the flavor and very smooth. I prefer it over 51 and Pitu.

For the easily-available, high-quality Cachaças, I like Beleza Pura. Strong tastes, good tastes, smooth enough, and still very much a cachaça. Leblon, Sagatiba, Boca Loca and Cabana are all over-distilled in my opinion and closer to vodka than cachaça. Pitu and 51 are not what I'd consider to be high-quality.

My favorite though, is Fazenda Mae De Ouro. Fantastic tastes, quite smooth, and a lot of complexity. Alas, it's not very easy to find since it has limited distribution in the States.

I've only managed to find 1 aged cachaça, Rochinha 5-year-old. It's very good, but the aging has smoothed out a lot of the tastes that make a cachaça a cachaça. A caipirinha with this stuff is almost a waste of time since the tastes don't come through enough, and it's not quite sippable.

That though, is my limited knowledge of cachaças, which isn't much. There are hundreds available in the US - I was in one store that had probably 120-150 different types - and well over 30,000 brands are made by more than 30,000 distilleries in Brazil.

More info than you might ever want to know about cachaça:
http://www.deltatranslator.com/cachaca.htm

If you can't get your hands on any cachaca, but have access to a Rhum Agricole (like La Mauny or Saint James), try it with that. Both are made by distilling the sugar cane juice where as rum is made with the by-product of sugar, molasses.
I like to make my Mai Tai's with a gold rum and either a gold or white agricole every now and then just to mix things up a bit. It adds an extra zing to the drink.

[ Edited by: swizzle 2015-06-02 18:06 ]

Saw this in Bevmo today and it looked interesting. After reading some about Cachaca, sounds like I should try it. Does anyone know more about this type? They had a gold and a white. I love the gold bottle, made me want to buy it just because it would look cool on the shelf with the mugs and such! Anyone try this and like it?

I find cachaca to be a hangover inducing beverage, but you gotta try some caiparinha's...

I have both cachacas shown in the photo. Last week I took advantage of apricots on our tree and mint spreading like wildfire in our backyard. I was inspired by an article in the latest Imbibe Magazine on smashes. So this is what I whipped up. I handed it to my girlfriend to taste and she wouldn't give it back.

Apricot Smash
1 1/2 oz cachaca
1 apricot
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz rock candy syrup
1/4 oz apricot brandy
6 mint leaves
1 dash of peach bitters.

Muddle the mint leaves with lime juice and apricot. Add rest of ingredients, shake with ice, and strain into rocks glass with ice.

On 2013-06-27 14:47, arriano wrote:
I have both cachacas shown in the photo. Last week I took advantage of apricots on our tree and mint spreading like wildfire in our backyard. I was inspired by an article in the latest Imbibe Magazine on smashes. So this is what I whipped up. I handed it to my girlfriend to taste and she wouldn't give it back.

Apricot Smash
1 1/2 oz cachaca
1 apricot
1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz rock candy syrup
1/4 oz apricot brandy
6 mint leaves
1 dash of peach bitters.

Muddle the mint leaves with lime juice and apricot. Add rest of ingredients, shake with ice, and strain into rocks glass with ice.

Arriano, I will be trying this recipe in the very near future. Looks delicious.

Yes, great recipe Arriano! I just made an apricot syrup, but wasn't so great when I mixed it with drinks. Maybe I'll try this instead. Will have to pick up a bottle of the Cachaca. Thanks for the recipe!

Cachaça (pronounced Ka-Sha-Sa)

Me Like

Ypióca Gold
and
Germana Amber

Would like to mix with fresh sugarcane juice lime and ice.

Also would like to try more Rhum Agricole.

Just tried my first caipirinha at a small hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant in my hometown. Holy $#!+ was it good! Count me amongst the caipirinha converts!

Count me among the non-believers.

Picked up a bottle of Leblon Cachaca and made a caipirinha as directed. Holy hell that's non-tasty! First cocktail I poured out that wasn't some 2 AM intoxicated mad scientist creation.

What am I gonna do with this Brazilian firewater? That flavor would pretty much destroy any fine tropical libation I pour it into, I fear.

So I'm asking for suggestions. Not from the cachaca lovers, poor besotted Brazilophiles that you are. Keep on bumping that bossa nova and enjoy your national drink! But, is there anybody who can suggest a way to use this stuff that covers up the flavor?

[ Edited by: wupput 2015-06-02 18:51 ]

I'm one of the Cachaca fans, but. . .

You can try muddling various seasonally available fruits into your Caipirinha like the Brazilians do. Throw enough strong fruit into the mix and you can probably bask the cachaca.

That said, I can tell you that you can definitely acquire a taste for the stuff. I had already gone through the taste acquisition process with rhum agricole which I initially wasn't sure about but have come to love, so my first taste of cachaca did not catch me quite as off-guard. It did not take long at all before I satrted craving the stuff!

I agree that it's not for everyone. Like agricole-style rums, there are people who love it, and people who hate it, with very few in the grey area. However, there are some aged cachacas that really are pretty drinkable, even for those of us anti-agricole folks (I'm one of them). Basic Leblon is certainly just a mixer and, for my tastes, requires quite a bit of modification to enjoy it, but Leblon now puts out an aged one (LEBLON MAISON RESERVA CACHACA) that I actually like sipping over a large ice cube without anything else. Weber Haus also had an aged one that was buttery smooth, but I'm not sure if/where that one is still available. Cabana is way too hot for my tastes and has no place on my shelf. I also have an old bottle of Germana that a friend gave me that I haven't been able to talk myself into opening yet. I'll let you know my thoughts if it ever gets opened.

So don't give up on Cachaca just yet... throw some more fruit in your Caipirinha or try an aged Cachaca for sipping, or even in a daiquiri. I suspect you'll find one you like.

Thanks guy. I will try muddling fruit.

I haven't tried agricoles yet but I do like Rhum Barbancourt 3 star. I like that in Port au Princes but not that much in Mai Tais. I was thinking of subbing some cachaca for the agricole in a Mai Tai, but something tells me that is probably not a good idea unless the dark rum I use is sweet and strong.

Yeah, I definitely think cachaca is going to overpower any other rum in a Mai Tai. That said, I have had some outstanding Mai Tai that use assertive rums like Smith & Cross and even J Wray overproof, so give it a shot and let us know how it is!

Muddled in some blackberries with the lime, added some simple.

Mmmmm. Now I get it!

On 2015-06-04 21:43, wupput wrote:
Muddled in some blackberries with the lime, added some simple.

Mmmmm. Now I get it!

Thumbs Up!