We’re smack in the middle of the hot heat of summer and the World Cup is upon us, so why don’t we take a little trip to Brazil and drink some cachaça? The older brother of rum, cachaça was created by the Portuguese and brought to Brazil in the middle of the 16th century and rum came around a century later. The main difference between the two is that most rum is made from molasses, a byproduct of refining sugar, where cachaça is made from freshly pressed sugar cane juice. This is not your sweet light rum. Cachaça is bright, fresh, earthy and citrusy. Cachaça is the official spirit of Brazil, and as of ten years ago only 1% was exported outside of the country. The official drink of Brazil is the caipirinha, a simple drink containing two ounces of cachaça, a few teaspoons of brown sugar, and a quarter of a lime, almost like an unrefined simple daiquiri. The same ingredients are in both but the caipirinha is a pinch more simple, raw, fresh, and dry.
Here at France 44 we have recently welcomed the Novo Fogo family of cachaças onto our shelves. Novo Fogo makes handcrafted, USDA Organic, zero waste cachaça right in the heart of Brazil. Their classic silver cachaça spends a whole year in stainless steel to rest and mellow before bottling. It is bottled unchill filtered giving it a rich oily texture filled with bright citrus, light banana, sharp sea salt, and a clean cane sweetness to finish, perfect for a caipirinha. Speaking of caipirinhas, they have canned sparkling caipirinhas they we sell that are perfect for the boat, beach and pool!
They also have a line of aged cachaças and here at France 44 we have fallen in love with their Tanager, aged in both American oak as well as sustainably sourced native Brazilian ZEBRA WOOD. I mean how cool is that? The Tanager has tropical tones of banana and papaya but is not overly sweet with dry cinnamon bark and clove spices to finish. It is a great substitute in many traditional whiskey cocktails such as a Sazerac, old fashioned or even a Manhattan. Come on in and explore the world of cachaça today!
