Cachaca

[The Chemist]

Okay, just call it "marketing research"...

Is Cachaca the "next big thing"?

Will it be the next flavored vodka, or a flash in the pan?

Who's tried it?

Was what you tried aged?

[theholymackerel]

I got a friend that's an engineer with Intell, and he goes down to Brazil regularly to work on projects and brings back a case every time.

He says down there the great majority of all of it is the cheap traditional stuff that everyone drinks, but there is startin' to be "premium" cachaca on the market (lol).

Every trip he buys a case of 12 bottles for 10$ american to bring back. We mostly just use it to make Mojitos.

[Rudi]

For the people like me who Havent a clue what Cachaca is

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cacha%C3%A7a" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

Never seen or heard of it in Aus sounds very much like a rum

[nutmg1]

Caipirinha (pronounced [kaj.pi.'ɾĩ.jɐ]) is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (pronounced IPA: [ˌkaˈʃasɐ]), sugar and lime. Cachaça is Brazil's most common distilled alcoholic beverage. Like rum, it is made from sugarcane. Cachaça is made from sugarcane alcohol, obtained from the fermentation of sugarcane juice which is afterwards distilled. Caipiroska, a common variant of the drink, uses vodka in place of cachaça. A Caipirissima substitutes rum for the cachaça.

I had one of these at Texas De Brazil.

Tasted like cheap rum to me. I'm not really a rum drinker though. Its always nice to try something different.

[absinthe]

yeah this is a rum made from pure cane pressings... where as 'real' rum is made from the left overs after the sugar has been removed (molasses and in the real old time the fiber left from the pressings much like grape is from the wine pressings)

[Asohosy]

Yep... Cachaca is a cheap agricol rum. Brazil makes it as well as all the french speaking islands of the carribean. In the islands it's not called Cachacca but Clairin.

I have made it with diluted raw sugar (known as: panela, rapadura, rapadou, papelon etc...). I have also come very close with blackstrap molasses:

I gallon blackstrap
25 gallons water
50 lbs white sugar
Yeast nutrients
Yeast

This is basically the agricol rum recipe on the parent site.

Whith careful cuts you get a very decent rum that when aged (my preference is charred oak) is a good, subtle sipping rum.

[Cruiser]

Over the past few years, a bunch of us have been trying all sorts of rums from around the world. One of them was Ypioca Cachaça Ouro from Brazil. It was the worse tasting stuff we've ever tried. Smelled and tasted like what's in my tailings/feints bottle. It did come in a nice bottle wrapped in woven palm leaves but that would be the best tasting part.

Your mileage may vary.

Cruiser.

[The Chemist]

I really do have to take exception to the characterization of cachaca as 'cheap agricol rum'. Cachaca is a HUGE market, and does have the potential, as any alcoholic beverage, to be poorly made. There is certainly A LOT of poorly made cachaca. But there are very well-made examples, too. Agricole rhum can be a wonderful thing, if the maker takes the trouble. Rhum Clement, from Martinique, is one example. As for cachaca, try to find some Old Cesar 88, Urucuiana, or 3 Praias.

[theholymackerel]

I see a few misconceptions here about Cachaca.

It's not rum... yes, it's made from cane juice (and many rums made from cane juice can be exquisite) but it's not run through the still like rum. It has a special process. Cachaca is the only spirit I know that is "distilled to strength".

When they run cachaca they traditionally remove and toss the foreshots then collect in ONE CONTAINER untill the total volume of distillate gets to the 90-80 proof range. This means the heads and tails are in there. Today there are startin' to be "premium cachaca's" on the market that are distilled like rum: the heads and tails are seperated from the body and the body gets watered down and bottled. This susposed " premium cachaca" is really just brazillian rum in all but name.

[The Chemist]

Ah, thanks, THM...it's like pulling teeth to get anything out of a distiller...

[Asohosy]

I really do have to take exception to the characterization of cachaca as 'cheap agricol rum'. Cachaca is a HUGE market, and does have the potential, as any alcoholic beverage, to be poorly made. There is certainly A LOT of poorly made cachaca. But there are very well-made examples, too. Agricole rhum can be a wonderful thing, if the maker takes the trouble. Rhum Clement, from Martinique, is one example. As for cachaca, try to find some Old Cesar 88, Urucuiana, or 3 Praias.

Agricole rum is a wondrful thing like you said and all the rum I drink is agricole rum. But usually cachaca is made by crushing the sugar cane and let it sit until it's fermented then distilled and collecting everything without cuts. Of course some cachaca makers make cuts and give you a good product but most don't.

Barbancourt (barbancourt.net), for example, say that before they had their own sugar cane fields they bought clairin (french cachaca) to redistill and sell as their rum.

By the way the wild yeast found in the sugar cane fields are Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Does anyone know if this is available commercially.

[wineo]

This sounds somewhat what I have been trying to make.{although I didnt have a clue}
Ive been potstilling some 8-10% raw sugar washes,keeping the hearts,and adding a little heads and tails for flavor in 1 run.The best flavor I have got yet was with a blend of mostly raw sugar,and 15-20% demerea sugar.It had a little sweetness to it without adding anything to the finished product.It was a very good tasting drink,went down like sweet water,and didnt last long.I did cut it with a little water to bring it down to 80 proof.I guess now I know what to call it.
I will be working on it this summer,and will post the recipe,when I think Ive got it right.

[Aidas]

I've been drinking Cachaca (aguardiente de cana) since a trip down to Argentina and Brazil back in 1990.

The Caipirinha is awesome. Two cocktails with your steak and fried plantains is, probably, still the most memorable meal I've had -- the meat was terrific, the plantain's astounding (it was my first time ), and the cocktails - just the right amount, and just the right taste for a hot January evening near the Copacabana (in a hole in the wall steak joint).

I digress...

I've had it in small towns, I've had it in Rio, I've had it in Germany, the US, Lithuania... hell, all over. Some of it gave me a horrible hangover, some of it not... this was before I was into distilling, and knew, let alone distinguish, tails and heads...

In any case, I'm still a fan of it, and though it is similar to rum, I would keep it in its own category, just the same.

All that said, it will be the "next thing" only if someone really markets it hard. It's not an easy drink straight. Caipirinhas are a bit of work to make at home (for the average joe), so that's not an easy sell -- you need to do a lot of chopping of lime...

Also, marketing a "premium" aguardiente de cana strikes me as an oxymoron... It's peasant. True to life grass roots peasant. Kind of like grappa used to be... before it went premium

OK. I take it back. If it's marketed like grappa -- it is the next "thing".

Aidas

[goose eye]

these boys done some sogrum juice . got tired of renderin down syrup so let it work. most went to the bad but a couple they cooked. think they done somethin wrong. turned out a fair but was kinda gamey. wont no future in it round here

so im tole

[wineo]

I tried some of that distilled sorgum,it wasnt bad.I think it would do better with a little of it in some sugar.

[schnell]

i recently had a bottle (forget the name) that was made in Brazil and had a little shrimp on it as it's logo.

It was the nastiest stuff I've ever spent money on. Definately had all the tails in it. Smells so bad I don't even use it for scrubbing grease off engine parts, because the smell sticks to what it touches and I don't want it on my fingers.

Could it be the next big thing? Put a competent cook next to the cooker and you could theoretically have a very nice product. The idea of using first run cane pressings is not new and many "rum" makers do so, especially for their higher quality rums. I think the marketing magic comes from using a new name for an old product.

[The Chemist]

Shrimp, huh? I haven't seen that one, though I do have a bottle with an armadillo...

And, yes, some poorly made stuff can be pretty nasty. On a par with Chinese schlock. But the good stuff, is.

[Aidas]

i recently had a bottle (forget the name) that was made in Brazil and had a little shrimp on it as it's logo.

That would be Pitu. It's one of the main brands here in Europe.

Nope, it's NOT a premium, but it IS a good example of a standard cachaca.

Aidas

[manu de hanoi]

tried some, tastes like my bad molasses rhum

[wineo]

I am going to try to develop a recipe for Cachaca,and see how it turns out.I think it will be rum-like,but from what Ive read,it shouldnt have molassus in it,or it would be rum.Im going to do a 13 gallon wash of it with 12 pounds of raw sugar,and 5 pounds of demerea sugar using some used distillers yeast that I made a light rum with.The yeast has been washed,and re-grown a few times so it shouldnt carry any rum flavors over in the ferment.It will have a starting SG of 1070,and I will add a small amount of acid and DAP to the ferment.I will potstill it 1 time making cuts as I run.It should be about 100 proof right off the still.
I used some demerea sugar a while back in a sugar wash,and just a pound of it gave a real good flavor to the potstilled wash.I have only read about Cachaca,and never tasted it myself,but I am sure that with good cuts,it will be tasty stuff.
I just started it,and will let you all know how it turns out when I run it.Im using a large yeast starter,so it will ferment out in a few days.

[muckanic]

I guess unrefined sugar is the only practical substitute for fresh cane juice. I do, however, suspect the spontaneous fermentation could have quite a bit to do with the product. Agricole rums are supposed to be fruity. This aspect can also be faked to some extent, but obviously not with a single-strain commercial yeast culture.

[wineo]

Theres no cane juice around here.so raw sugar will have to do.It does have some fruitiness if single distilled with a low % wash.I have used it alot,and it made a good lite rum,mixed with brown sugar and a little molassus.The demerea sugar seems to carry over alot of sweet aroma,and sweet flavors when potstilled at 8-10%.Im sure it will turn out good,but dont know if it will taste like the comercial stuff.No mater,I needed to classify what kind of distillate it will be,since its not really rum.Its fermenting like hell this morning,and will probably be finished in a few days.Im going to clear it real good before running it.

[wineo]

Its been fermenting good,and went from 1070SG to 1020SG in 3 days.It smells wonderful.That demerea sugar is real aromatic.

[Asohosy]

The real challenge is to reproduce the sugar cane juice. I never tried with demera sugar but did try with panela which is basically dehydrated sugar cane juice.

After carefull cuts and about 6 months in a closed bottle I had a very sweet smelling distillate that I cut down to 45%ABV. Delicious.

Could I call it Cachaca, or the fact that I made careful cuts should I call it Rum. What's the difference?

[theholymackerel]

Rum and cachaca are made from the same materials, the main difference between the two is the method of distillation.

Seein' as how you and wineo are talkin' 'bout makin' cuts and agin' and such then it's definately not cachaca. Maybe yall could call it pseudo-rum?

[Asohosy]

That's my point. It is rum; agricole rum.

[wineo]

I think THM has a point,I will be making cuts cause theres no way I will be running it all together.I guess we should just call it rum or rhum.I dont really care what we call it,as long as its good.I opened a 1 year old bottle of rum today that said captain malibu on the label.Kinda a cross of spiced oaked rum with a little coconut flavor.It was really good with coke.Me and a friend finished it off.I only made a gallon of the stuff.I have 3 bottles left,but there going to get aged another year or so.

[19Kilo]

I've been waiting to try this stuff for over a year... since I saw Anthony Bordain slug it by the bottle on his old show. Right now, Im looking at a bottle of Pirassununga 51.

First shot: smooth in, untill half a shot... then a gag reflex... heads are off the top... very sharp, nasty tasting.

Second shot: Now that I am prepared for the nasty, I can judge the after. Way into the tails, to the point of almost being greasy.

I speak only 10 words in Portogeise, so I don't know if this is the god stuff... but I got it off of a flight from brazil, so I'm gonna guesss it was the good stuff since they don't normaly skimp based on thier wine supply!

Either way... my 5 gallon Turkey Fryer is making way better rhum than what's available commercially in Brazil!

[wineo]

Im going to make good cuts on mine and clean it up.It should be tasty stuff.

[mikeac]

I've been waiting to try this stuff for over a year... since I saw Anthony Bordain slug it by the bottle on his old show. Right now, Im looking at a bottle of Pirassununga 51.

....

Either way... my 5 gallon Turkey Fryer is making way better rhum than what's available commercially in Brazil!

51 is a pretty standard Cachaca, and I wouldn't judge Brazilian rum by their Cachaca. These are distinctly different drinks. While they have the same base ingredients, the distillation techniques are very different...