Like rum, the distilled Brazilian cachaça (spirit) is also made of sugarcane. This spirit has been one of the fastest growing spirits after mezcal across the globe in volumes.
Going by the local consumption numbers (litres) cachaca would be in the top ten spirits category with rum coming third just after vodka and gin. And that is because only rum or sugarcane spirits produced in Brazil can be classified as cachaça.
The Portuguese introduced the humble ‘grass’ sugarcane in Brazil probably in the 16th century and cachaca owes its beginning to this endeavour. Back in Lisbon it was called ‘aguardente de cana’ literally translated as sugarcane fire water.
Cachaça or Cachaca or Brazilian rum has mainly two varieties:
Unaged – Prata or Silver or white
Aged – Ouro or Gold or yellow
Cachaça Velho Barreiro (Unaged)Cachaça Velho Barreiro Gold (Aged)
And before you ask it, I’m sure you want to know where to buy cachaca. You can now buy cachaça online (Rum Archives – AG Caravela) with a few high-street vintners or superstores also having them in store – mostly the cachaca 51 brand.
At AG Caravela we have – 51 Special Edition Cachaça 70cl – AG Caravela, Velho Barreiro Cachaça 70cl – AG Caravela, Velho Barreiro Gold Cachaça 70cl – AG Caravela and Milbar Cachaça 100cl – AG Caravela