Cachaça is a liquor made from fermented sugarcane. It is the most popular distilled alcoholic beverage in Brazil. It is also known as aguardente (aguardiente), pinga, caninha and a few other names.

Cachaça is mostly produced in Brazil, where, according to 2007 figures, 1.5 billion liters (390 million gallons) are consumed annually, compared with 15 million liters (4.0 million gallons) outside the country.

The alcohol strength can be anywhere from 38% to 80% by volume. Cachaça differs from rum in that most rum is made from molassesc but Cachaca can be classified as a “rhum agricole” which is rum produced directly from cane juice.

Outside of Brazil, cachaça is used almost exclusively as an ingredient in tropical drinks, with the caipirinha being the most famous cocktail.

Cachaça, like rum, has two varieties: unaged (white) and aged (gold). White cachaça is usually bottled immediately after distillation and tends to be cheaper. It is often used to prepare caipirinha and other beverages in which cachaça is an ingredient. Dark cachaça, usually seen as the “premium” variety, is aged in wood barrels and is meant to be drunk straight. Its flavor is influenced by the type of wood from which the barrel is made.

Cachaça was invented by the first Portuguese settlers of Brazil, in the region around the town of São Vicente, sometime between 1532 and 1548. Workers at local sugar mills first discovered that the sugarcane juice (garapa), cooked and left standing, would “sour” (ferment) and turn into a mild alcoholic beverage. The product, disparagingly named cagaça, was consumed by slaves, as a cheap substitute for the Indians’ cauim. Soon someone had the idea of distilling it, and thus cachaça was born.

Currently there are more than 4,000 different brands of cachaça available in Brazil.

Click here to read my article about my visit to a cachaça producing farm.