Cachaça

Cachaça(Portuguese pronunciation:[kaˈʃasɐ])is adistilled spiritmade from fermentedsugarcanejuice. Also known aspinga,caninha,and other names, it is the most popular spirit in Brazil.Outside Brazil, cachaça is used almost exclusively as an ingredient in tropical drinks, with thecaipirinhabeing the most famous and popular cocktail.In Brazil, caipirinha is often paired with the dishfeijoada.
Sugar production was mostly switched from theMadeira islandsto Brazil by the Portuguese in the 16th century. In Madeira,aguardentede canais made by distilling sugar cane juice into liquor, and the pot stills from Madeira were brought to Brazil to make what today is also calledcachaça.The process dates from 1532 when one of the Portuguese colonists brought the first cuttings of sugar cane to Brazil from Madeira.
The nameCachaçais legally protected; it can only be produced in Brazil, where, according to 2007 figures, 1,500,000,000 litres (396,000,000 US gal; 330,000,000 imp gal) are consumed annually, compared with 15,000,000 litres (3,960,000 US gal; 3,300,000 imp gal) outside the country.It is typically between 38% and 48%alcohol by volume.When homemade, it can be as strong as the distiller wants. Up to six grams of sugar per liter may be added.
Figures from 2003 indicate 1.3 billion liters of cachaça are produced each year; only 1% of this is exported (mainly to Germany).
Cachaça, likerum, has two varieties: unaged (Portuguese:branca, "white" orprata, "silver") and aged (amarela, "yellow" orouro, "gold").Whitecachaçais usually bottled immediately after distillation and tends to be cheaper. Some producers age it for up to 12 months in wooden barrels to achieve a smoother blend. It is often used as an ingredient in caipirinha and other mixed beverages. Darkcachaça, usually seen as the "premium" variety, is aged in wood barrels and is meant to be drunk neat. It is usually aged for up to 3 years, though some ultra-premiumcachaçashave been aged for up to 15 years. Its flavour is influenced by the type of wood the barrel is made from.
There are very important regions in Brazil where finepot stillcachaçais produced, such asSalinasin Minas Gerais state,Chã Grandein Pernambuco state,Paratyin Rio de Janeiro state,Monte Alegre do Sulin São Paulo,Luiz Alvesin Santa Catarina state andAbaírain Bahia state. Nowadays, producers ofcachaçacan be found in most Brazilian regions, and in 2011, there were over 40,000 of them.
Cachaçais produced in copper stills. Levels of copper in homemadecachaçascan exceed the legal limits established byBrazilian law. Some copper is considered desirable in the distillation process as a catalyst for the oxidation of sulfur compounds produced by fermentation, but the levels must be controlled by adequate maintenance and cleaning of the still to remove accumulatedverdigris.Adsorbentsare used, but the most commonly used adsorbents,activated carbonandion-exchange resin, have been shown to alter the chemical composition ofcachaça. Sugarcanebagassehas been proposed as a selective adsorbent.
For more than four centuries of history,cachaçahas accumulated synonyms and creative nicknames coined by the Brazilian people. Some of these words were created for the purpose of deceiving the supervision of the metropolis in the days whencachaçawas banned in Brazil; the beverage was competing with the European distillategrappa. There are more than two thousand words to refer to the Brazilian national distillate.Some of these nicknames are:abre-coração(heart-opener),água-benta(holy water),bafo-de-tigre(tiger breath), andlimpa-olho(eye-wash).
In the beginning of the 17th century, the producers of sugar from various European colonies in the Americas used the by-products of sugar,molasses, and scummings as the raw material for the production of alcoholic spirits. The resulting beverage was known by several names: in British colonies, it was namedrum; in France,tafia; in Spain,aguardiente de caña; and in Portugal (Brazil),aguardente da terra,aguardente de canaand latercachaça(locals also call it "Pinga",which translates to drip).
The major difference betweencachaçaandrumis that rum is usually made frommolasses, a by-product after a refinery boils the cane juice to extract as much sugar crystal as possible, whilecachaçais made from fresh sugarcane juice, fermented and distilled.Some rums, in particular, therhum agricoleof theFrench Caribbean, are also made by the latter process.Cachaçais also known asBrazilian rum.
In the United States,cachaçais recognized as a type of rum and distinctive Brazilian product, after an agreement was signed in 2013with Brazil in which it will drop the usage of the term "Brazilian rum".