Cachaça facts for kids

Cachaça (say it: Portuguese pronunciation: [kaˈʃasɐ]) is a special drink from Brazil. It's made by taking fresh juice from sugarcane and letting it ferment, then distilling it. People in Brazil love cachaça, and it's one of their most popular drinks.

You might hear cachaça called by other names too, like pinga or caninha. In Brazil, a famous cocktail called caipirinha is often made with cachaça. It's also sometimes enjoyed with a traditional Brazilian dish called feijoada.

What is the History of Cachaça?

How Cachaça Started in Brazil

In the 1500s, the Portuguese started growing a lot of sugarcane in Brazil. Before that, they grew it on the Madeira islands. They brought their ways of making sugar and drinks from sugarcane to Brazil.

One of these ways was making a drink called aguardente de cana by distilling sugarcane juice. The equipment they used to make this drink was also brought from Madeira to Brazil. This is how cachaça began, all the way back in 1532!

Where is Cachaça Made Today?

Cachaça can only be made in Brazil. In 2007, Brazilians drank about 1,500,000,000 litres (396,000,000 US gal; 330,000,000 imp gal) of cachaça each year. Only a small amount, about 15,000,000 litres (3,960,000 US gal; 3,300,000 imp gal), was consumed outside of Brazil.

This drink usually has between 38% and 48% alcohol by volume. If it's made at home, it can be even stronger. Sometimes, a little bit of sugar is added to it, up to six grams per liter.

How is Cachaça Produced?

Barrels are used to age cachaça.

Cachaça comes in two main types, much like rum. There's unaged cachaça, which is clear like water, and aged cachaça, which has a golden color.

Unaged Cachaça

Unaged cachaça is also called branca (white) or prata (silver). It's usually put into bottles right after it's made. This type is often less expensive. Some makers might age it for up to a year in wooden barrels to make it smoother. Unaged cachaça is often used to make mixed drinks, like the famous caipirinha.

Aged Cachaça

Aged cachaça is known as amarela (yellow) or ouro (gold). This type is considered more special. It's aged in wooden barrels and is usually meant to be sipped on its own. It can be aged for up to 3 years, but some very special cachaças are aged for as long as 15 years! The type of wood used for the barrel changes its flavor.

Important Cachaça Regions

Many important places in Brazil are known for making excellent cachaça. These include Salinas in Minas Gerais state, Chã Grande in Pernambuco state, and Paraty in Rio de Janeiro state.

Other regions are Monte Alegre do Sul in São Paulo state and Abaíra in Bahia state. By 2011, there were over 40,000 cachaça producers across Brazil!

What are Other Names for Cachaça?

Over more than 400 years, cachaça has gathered many different names and fun nicknames from the Brazilian people. Some of these names were created long ago to hide the drink from authorities when it was banned in Brazil.

There are more than two thousand words used to refer to this Brazilian drink! Some interesting nicknames include:

• abre-coração (heart-opener)
• água-benta (holy water)
• bafo-de-tigre (tiger breath)
• limpa-olho (eye-wash)

How is Cachaça Different from Rum?

In the early 1600s, sugar producers in different parts of the Americas used what was left over from making sugar, like molasses, to create alcoholic drinks. These drinks had different names depending on where they were made.

• In British colonies, it was called rum.
• In French colonies, it was tafia.
• In Spanish colonies, it was aguardiente de caña.
• In Portuguese Brazil, it was called aguardente da terra, then aguardente de cana, and later cachaça. Locals also call it "Pinga," which means "drip."

The main difference between cachaça and rum is how they are made. Most rum is made from molasses, which is a thick syrup left after boiling sugarcane juice to get sugar crystals. Cachaça, however, is made directly from fresh sugarcane juice that is fermented and then distilled.

Some rums, like rhum agricole from the French Caribbean, are also made from fresh sugarcane juice, similar to cachaça. Because of this, cachaça is sometimes called Brazilian rum.

In the United States, cachaça is officially recognized as a type of rum and a special product from Brazil. This agreement was made in 2013.

See also

In Spanish: Cachaza para niños