Cachaça brings a twist to the spirits sceneCachaça brings a twist to the spirits scene

Stephen Beaumont

In late May cachaça made headlines when beverage giant 
Diageo purchased a Brazil-based maker of what has become that country’s patio-friendly national spirit. Now that summer and more al fresco opportunities lie ahead in North America, a growing number of drinks professionals are wondering what to do with cachaça — and even what it really is.


Cachaça is thought widely to be like rum, but different. That difference, although sometimes more semantic than actual, is critical to both understanding the beverage and its application at the bar.


Whereas most rum is distilled from molasses, a byproduct of sugar production, cachaça is made from the fresh juice of the sugar cane. A small percentage of rums, typically from the French West Indies and sometimes known as rhums agricoles, also are made from the juice of the sugar cane. But as any whiskey aficionado will tell you, often the most significant difference between spirits lies not in their raw ingredients, but in how those ingredients are treated.


The main difference between most rhums, rums and cachaças is the strength at which they come off the still. A rhum agricole from Martinique, for example, will typically emerge from distillation at around 140 proof, or roughly 70 percent alcohol, while a Caribbean rum might be distilled to an even higher strength. Cachaça, on the other hand, is by law permitted to be distilled to only 38-percent to 48-percent alcohol, or 76 to 96 proof. That lower strength allows the raw materials — the sugar cane — to have a greater influence on the flavor of the spirit, or if you prefer, gives it an increased sense of terroir.


This agricultural impact is, in the view of Dave Mitton of the Harbord Room in Toronto, essential to the character of the Brazilian spirit.


“I find that cachaça has a fresher nose than rum,” he said. “It tastes sweet and fresh and has distinctive vegetal notes reminiscent of tequila.”


The freshness Mitton speaks of is also front of mind for Michael Mering, co-manager at the The Bedford, a bar in Chicago. He calls it key to cachaça’s mixability.


“In my experience cachaça has a cleaner flavor than rum,” Mering said. “It gives us a greater range of flavors to choose from when we’re making a new cocktail — lighter ingredients like basil and Chartreuse that would be overpowered by rum.”


Mitton agrees.


“When I use cachaça [in a cocktail], I like to use it on its own with no other spirits involved,” he said. “Usually, I’ll mix it with some sort of fresh juice or herbs.”


That, of course, references the classic cachaça cocktail, the Caipirinha, a mix of muddled lime, sugar, cachaça and ice. Mitton said it’s a good starting point for anyone who wants to put a fresh approach to cachaça on their bar menu. In summer Mitton riffs on the recipe by adding rhubarb syrup to the mix, creating what he describes as “a refreshing, sweeter summer cocktail.”


As for introducing customers to cachaça, Mering thinks he has the answer. 


“People love the story,” he said. “They like the romance of this unusual spirit from Brazil.” 


That lore, coupled with a good cocktail or two, might be enough to have bottles of cachaça flying off the back bar all summer long.