Cachaça
Also called cachaca, pinga, caninha, aguardente de cana brasileira
Brazil's sugarcane spirit, distilled from fermented fresh cane juice rather than molasses, bottled between 38 and 48% ABV under Brazilian law. Unaged it is grassy and bright; aged in native woods it turns rounder and spiced. The Caipirinha exists because of it.
- fresh cane
- cut grass
- green banana
- white pepper
- faint funk
- lime leaf
- soft sweetness
Origin
Sugarcane was planted in Portuguese Brazil from 1532 and cane spirit followed within decades. The best cachaça is distilled from fermented fresh cane juice to no more than 75% ABV, which keeps more of the cane's aroma than a high strength rum column. Brazilian law sets cachaça at 38 to 48% ABV and allows up to 6 g of sugar per liter; aged cachaça must contain at least half spirit aged a year or more in wooden vessels of up to 700 liters. Difford's quotes a 38 to 54% band, which is the wider band for generic aguardente de cana, so the two figures are not in conflict.
Common uses
- caipirinha
- batida with fruit and condensed milk
- a cachaça daiquiri
- cane spirit highball with soda and lime
Pours that use it
Sources
- Cachaça, Difford's Guide · secondary source, retrieved 2026-10-11
- Resolução CAMEX nº 105 de 31/10/2016 (regulamento de uso da indicação geográfica Cachaça), CAMEX, reproduced by Normas Brasil · primary source, retrieved 2026-10-11