Cachaça Day in Brazil

My people are on the move.  Cachaça tourism... nice. This was first published here.  Check it out.

Sep.13, 2011
Cachaça Day in Brazil

When the first sugarcane plants were introduced in Brazil by Portuguese colonizers in the early 16th century, brought from Madeira Island, the creation of a genuinely Brazilian drink would soon follow.

Yet, though the origins of cachaça date back to the Sugarcane Cycle (16th to 18th century) and manufacturing processes taking place at the oldest engenhos, or sugarcane plantations and mills; though its production is intrinsically intertwined with Brazil history and the formation of a national identity, cachaça tourism has only recently begun to take shape as a trend in Brazil travel.

The potential for development is enormous - according to IBRAC, the Brazilian Cachaça Institute (www.ibrac.net), Brazil has 40,000 cachaça producers, 99% of them micro-companies. Many of those are located in the same regions where African and Brazil-born slaves first distilled the drink at sugar mills - and developed a product which, tragically, would be used in triangular trade.

A deeper contact with Brazil's past, particularly its black history, and journeys through scenic destinations, such as Paraty, the Paraiba River Valley or the colonial towns of Minas Gerais, are some of the pluses of cachaça tourism besides the discovery of the drink's variegated flavors and textures.

Superb regional culinary is often part of the experience; some of the distilleries are on farms which also have restaurants, and most cachaçarias specialize in local dishes as well.

In view of the importance of cachaça in Brazil culture and economy - for example, in the generation of 600,000 jobs and exports to over 50 countries - IBRAC initiated a campaign to make September 13 National Cachaça Day. A bill sponsored by a Santa Catarina representative awaits voting in the Chamber of Deputies.

September 13 was chosen because on that day in 1661, an uprising put an end to a Portuguese royal decree which prohibited the production of the drink in the colony.

Surviving a hangover

Ever have one of those parties that picks you up all night, but then slams you down the next morning?  All night raucous parties are pretty routine here.  It seems every weekend its someone’s birthday or anniversary or reunion with out of town family, or it’s just a night to party with friends.

Among our circle of friends the parties run past 2:00 am pretty regularly, and well on to 4:00 am on occasion.  When the beer runs out someone passes the hat and either calls for a delivery of another few cases, or hops in a car and makes a beer run to the neighborhood barzinho.

Eventually we call it quits, often sleeping at the house where the party was.

The next morning a few people light up the stove and start cooking off eggs while someone else makes a bakery run for some fresh bread. And of course, someone walks around offering ENGOV and a glass of water to those with a hangover.

Have you tried this stuff?  People swear by it.  It’s an anti-hangover pill sold in every pharmacy.  You are supposed to take one pill before you start to party, then another one when you wake up the next morning (although many of my friends will pop a pill before going to bed – for good measure, I suppose).

According to one of those “Ask me anything” websites, ENGOVE contains mostly asprin for your headache, with some antacid to calm your stomach, some antihistamine to reduce nausea and vomiting, and caffeine to combat lethargy.

So ENGOV is designed to fight the symptoms of a hangover, but it does not actually prevent a hangover.  But it clearly seems to work.

Making the perfect caipirinha

Somehow I have gone for three years without talking about my role as chief caipirinha maker in our group of friends.  Invariably, at every party, I wind up in the kitchen making caipirinhas.

My guess is that no one else wants to go through all the trouble of making the cocktails so they smile at the gringo, flatter me with praise about my being the best caipirinha maker, and then hand me a bag of ingredients and escort me to the kitchen.

As for me, in the beginning, since I had next to zero language abilities, it was more fun to make caipirinhas and receive praise in the form of smiles and raised glasses than it was to sit in a chair and watch the world go by.

So at this point I have made hundreds of these things and have, indeed, become a bit of an aficionado.

After screening about a dozen YouTube videos looking for a demonstration I could stand behind I found this one.  But – it still falls short.  I have a number of comments/corrections to add, but I liked the sound track.  Take a look, and then check out my critique below.

First, you probably noticed the lime ingredient is referred to as a lemon.  That’s because the common name of this fruit in Portuguese is “limão” and there really are no true yellow lemons here, except in the imported fruit section of better grocery stores (so there is little reference for Brazilians to make a distinction).  Actually, my fancy dictionary says that in Portuguese a lime is “lima” and a lemon is “limão” but everyone I’ve ever heard calls a lime a limão.  Luiz still gets these two fruits mixed up.  Anyway…

Next, that bottle of cachaça wrapped in that distinctive cane webbing is undoubtedly Ypióca brand.  Personally, I would not use it for caipirinhas, especially the dark variety.  I prefer the darker (aged in wood, thus the color) cachaças for sipping and use exclusively clear cachaças for caipirinhas. (Unless there is no choice…)

The video suggests that the darker cachaças are generally sweeter than the clear.  I’m not so sure about that.  They definitely are more flavorful, but not necessarily sweeter.  It is this flavor (however refined or not) that makes them ill-matched for a caipirinha.  Stick with the clear fire water stuff.

A plião is basically a muddler.  Be sure to keep your food and beverage muddlers separate.  You do not want to use your garlic crushing or spice grinding pestle to smash up sugar and limes for a cocktail.

As is done in the video, I like to cut the lime into pretty small pieces (don’t forget to give them a good washing before you use them), this makes for more surface area involved when you muddle, releasing more juice from the fruit and oil from the peel.  Some people prefer the aesthetic of larger wedges.

Sugar quantity is a personal taste thing.  I err on the less-sweet side.  If you want a sweet drink, make a kiwi or maracujá “caipifruta.”  In a caipirinha I think you should use enough sugar to balance out the bitter and tart flavors of the lime, but not try to go for a sweet drink.  The example in the video has too much sugar, IMHO, as evidenced by the layer of undissolved sugar mud at the bottom of the glass in his finished product.  When perfect flavor is not an issue, some folks prefer to use artificial sweetener to save on all the calories.

Like the video, I fill the glass with (filtered water) ice and top it off with the cachaça.  But unlike the video, I then plop it all into a cocktail shaker (or suitable substitute) and shake the heck out of it for a good long time.  This both gets it nicely chilled, as well as facilitates dissolving the sugar.  Then I pour it all back into the glass.

Again, use clear cachaça.  That nasty brownish cocktail at the end of the video turns me off.

One other thing: while most people turn their noses up at Cachaça 51 brand cachaça as being rot gut cheap stuff, I think it actually is perfect for a standard caipirinha.  But that’s just me.

Remember, don’t drink and drive.

To REALLY get an eye full of all things cachaça, take a look at the Cachaçagora blog.