Howdy, and Cachaca mash

[Virginia Gentleman]

Hey ya'll, sorry I disappeared for many months. Between a new job and lots of strangers in the house doing renovation work, I had to knock off stillin for about 6 months. Plus an HVAC guy discovered the still by accident, so I got nervous. Doubt he would say anything, but can't be too safe.

Anyhow, I've missed being on here and talking to ya'll and especially stillin! But now I'm back at it, ran THM's run mash last weekend, and am running Uncle Jesse's sour mash this weekend. Look forward to catchin up with ya'll and the forums.

And now a question: anyone tried making cachaca, the eau de vie of Brazil made from sugar cane juice? Looks like you can buy cane juice online. Imagine it's a lot like making rum. Had some cachaca this summer in a drink called a caipirinha, made with sugar and lime. Tasty!

[theholymackerel]

Cachaca is an interestin' booze.

I't is the only professionally distilled drink I've found to be distilled to strength. Meanin' that it's only distilled once usually and that single run is continued till the distillate is down to drinkin' strength.

So if the distiller wanted to make 90 proof cachaca he would seperate heads and collect the distillate in one big container till the overall proof dropps down to 90 proof. This takes it WAY into the tails.

Cachaca is usually very inexpensive (I remember one of the "expensive" Brazilian brands to be 1$/bottle while most brands were under 50 cents for a litre bottle) and it's firery, hot, young and super flavorful.

[stoker]

what's the difference between rum and Cachaca?

[Big J]

Cachaca is made from unrefined sugar cane juice whereas rum is made from molasses. Although cachaca is called 'rhum agricole' in some French speaking countries.

Cheers,
J

[possum]

I see there would be some difference, but I bet it would be somewhat similar to rum made with molassis and cane sugar. Perhapse more flowery ? I like a deep flavored rum myself.

I have seen sugar cane extract (no sugar extracted molassis) for a 5 gallon bucket it cost @$50. Some kind of all organic company I belive.

Good to see ya back VG.

[Virginia Gentleman]

THM, thanks for the info. Come to think of it, it does have a distinct tails flavor. I describe it as somewhere between rum and tequila. You can really taste the sugar cane in it. Yeah, a good bottle is about $2 in Brazil. Of course, it's $20 in the US!

Possum, it is a little flowery, but also hot and flavorful like thm said. I'll look around for the sugar cane extract. If it's $10/gal. that's pretty good.

Of course if you're loaded you could buy your very own extractor!!;-)

http://www.zama-enterprise.com/SearchResult.aspx?KeyWords=sugar

More info from the web below. I wonder if The Chemist's company has any cachaca makers as clients. He still around?

There are roughly 30,000 small producers along with a few handfuls of large cachaça producers in Brazil. Because the distillation process is relatively easy compared to other liquors and because sugarcane is so abundant in Brazil, the business can be is open to anyone. Sugarcane is first milled to extract its juice, then fermented for about 24 hours, and finally boiled until it an 80-proof substance emerges. Cachaça is usually bottled soon after distillation but some have tried to fashion new varieties by aging cachaça much like whiskey. The Brazilian legislation indicates that cachaça must be aged for at least one year in barrels no larger than 700 liters for the legitimate use of the "aged" appellation. Brazilians aging their cachaça use a variety of woods for their barrels, including Brazilian woods such as imburana, cedar, freijó, and jequitibá and American and European oak, which give the liquor a smoother, rounder taste. In addition, a third type of cachaça, called "yellow" cachaça, is made by merely adding caramel or wood extracts directly into the drink without aging causing the cachaça to have a much sweeter taste. Regardless of the variety, cachaça should not be confused with rum, which is distilled from the molasses left over after sugar refinement. However, the mistake is made; cachaça imports into the United States are taxed as rum and cachaça is sometimes referred to as Brazilian rum.

[Rocky_Creek]

There are more gallons produced in the jungle down there than in legal stills.

[Virginia Gentleman]

mmmm, bet it's good. Jungle boogie!