Often confused with rum, cachaça (pronounced ka-sha-suh) is Brazil’s national spirit made from distilled sugarcane juice. The best cachaça brands range from fiery unaged (branca or prata) varieties to the more flavoursome aged (amarela or ouro).
Cachaça can be sipped neat or as the foundation of Brazil’s national cocktail, the caipirinha; a simple yet feisty combination of cachaça, lime, and sugar. Let’s get acquainted with this fiery spirit whose nicknames are abre-coração (heart-opener) and bafo-de-tigre (tiger breath).
Best Cachaça Brands
I’ve selected 10 of the best cachaça brands perfect for sipping neat or the foundation of an unforgettable caipirinha cocktail.
1. Cachaca 51 Pirassununga
Overview
- Distiller: Companhia Muller de Bebidas
- ABV: 40% (80 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Clear
Review
Cachaça 51 Pirassununga keeps it simple and is an unaged cachaça where yeast goes to work, fermenting sugarcane juice and water. This heavenly mixture is then distilled in stainless steel columns to produce a tasty, clear cachaça.
Guilherme Müller Filho founded a company that still bears his name in the city of Pirassununga, São Paulo state, in 1959. This company has been turning out quality cachaça and soon became one of the most popular and best-selling cachaça brands worldwide.
Taste Notes
Notes of seaweed and freshly-mown grass mingle with vanilla, black pepper, and lemon. Moderately bitter with a slight sweetness, continuing in the aftertaste, which is somewhat harsh.
Best Served
Cachaça 51 Pirassununga is best served as a caipirinha with lime wedges or a Lemon Beat cocktail- Cachaça, fresh lemon juice and honey.
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
2. Velho Barreiro Cachaca
Overview
- Distiller: Velho Barreiro
- ABV: 39% (78 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Clear
Review
Velho Barreiro Cachaça is a traditional cachaça made from fermented sugarcane juice and water, an marketed as an unaged, prata cachaça. Nevertheless, they age it for a year in Jequitibá-rosa wooden barrels.
Founded in 1909 in a suburb of São Paulo, Indústrias Reunidas de Bebidas Tatuzinho has long been a leading Brazilian distiller of spirits. They launched this cachaça in 1975, and it quickly grew to become one of Brazil’s favourites.
Taste Notes
Slightly sweet, with caramelized banana and brown sugar mingling with cumin and black pepper. The aftertaste is long and vegetal, with hints of sugar and pepper.
Best Served
Velho Barreiro Cachaça is best served in any type of fruit-based cocktail and, of course, in the traditional caipirinha with lime wedges. Also, try it in a cachaça mojito.
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
3. Leblon Cachaça
Overview
- Distiller: Leblon
- ABV: 40% (80 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Clear
Review
Leblon Cachaça is an unaged, or branca cachaça, made from fermented sugarcane juice and water, distilled in a copper still in small batches. It is then aged for up to six months in oak barrels previously used for cognac.
Launched in 2005, Leblon is a craft distiller of cachaça located in Minas Gerais state. The brand takes its name from Leblon Beach in Rio de Janeiro and focuses on quality in its cachaça.
Taste Notes
A fresh, light, and grassy cachaça with smooth sweetness and mild spice. The finish is grassy and pleasantly lingering.
Best Served
Even Leblon themselves recommend serving Leblon Cachaça as a traditional Caipirinha. However, have you tried their Pineapple Mint Caipirinha recipe?
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
4. Abelha 3 Year Old Gold Organic Cachaça
Overview
- Distiller: Abelha
- ABV: 38% (76 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Pale Gold
Review
Abelha 3 Year Old Gold Organic Cachaça is an ouro or aged cachaça produced from organically-grown sugarcane. The cane juice is mixed with water, fermented, distilled and then aged for three years in small barrels made of garapeira wood.
A partnership between Brits passionate about cachaça and local farmer Marcos Vaccaro, Abelha cachaça is produced in the town of Rio de Contas in Bahia state from organically-grown sugarcane.
Taste Notes
Sour citrus notes are balanced with honey and black pepper overtones. The finish is smooth and slightly dry, with hints of oak and cedar from the garapeira wood.
Best Served
Abelha 3 Year Old Gold Organic Cachaça is so smooth that it is best served just below room temperature and sipped neat.
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
5. Novo Fogo Barrel Aged Cachaca
Overview
- Distiller: Novo Fogo
- ABV: 40% (80 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Clear
Review
Novo Fogo Barrel Aged Cachaça is an aged, or ouro cachaça that is aged for two to three years in American oak bourbon barrels. The barrels have been carefully dismantled, sanded, and re-toasted.
Novo Fogo cachaça is produced in Morretes, in the state of Paraná, a town with a long history of cachaça production. It is made from certified organic sugarcane cultivated in the Serra do Mar rainforest ecosystem.
Taste Notes
Dry grassy notes with toasted oak and coconut, vanilla and black pepper overtones. Aftertaste dry, toasted oak with notes of banana bread and coffee.
Best Served
With its unique complexity, Novo Fogo Barrel-Aged Cachaça is best sipped neat. Also, try it as the base for a tasty Caipirinha or Caveira Cocktail.
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
6. Yaguara Cachaça
Overview
- Distiller: Yaguara
- ABV: 41.4% (83 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Clear
Review
Yaguara cachaça is also produced from organically-grown hand-cut sugarcane by the fifth generation of the Menaghel family, using cultivated local yeasts.
An unaged or branca cachaça, Yaguara, is produced by fermenting and distilling organic sugarcane juice. This cachaça is rested for 10 months before master distiller Erwin Weimann carefully blends it with a 6-year-old cachaça aged in oak barrels.
Taste Notes
Opens with intense grassy and lemongrass notes before giving way to lime, white pepper, and flint. The finish is grassy with hints of ginger and sugar cane.
Best Served
Yaguara themselves recommend their cachaça is best served as a traditional caipirinha; who am I to argue?
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
7. Capucana Cachaca
Overview
- Distiller: CapuCana
- ABV: 42% (84 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Clear
Review
Capucana Cachaça is an aged, or ouro cachaça using three different varieties of sugarcane. It is fermented, distilled, and aged for three years in ex-bourbon oak barrels.
If that’s not enough to entice you, this cachaça is then further aged on the island of Islay alongside barrels of peaty Scotch.
Founded in 1886 by Danish immigrant Christiano Matthiessen, Capucana Cachaça is distilled in Piracicaba near São Paulo. The company is committed to sustainability.
Taste Notes
Grassy and unusually rum-like cachaça with notes of aloe vera, stewed fruit, and vanilla, with a creamy, floral, citrus zest aftertaste. Complex and full of character.
Best Served
Similar to an aged tequila or rum, I found the best way to enjoy Capucana Cachaça is slowly sipped neat. It also makes a tasty caipirinha with a fruity twist. Pairs well with a crisp Mexican beer too!
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
8. Sagatiba Cristalina Cachaca Pura
Overview
- Distiller: Sagatiba
- ABV: 38% (76 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Clear
Review
Sagatiba Cristalina Cachaça Pura is an unaged or plata cachaça made from high-quality sugarcane. It is fermented and then distilled up to five times for an ultra-smooth and crisp Cachaça.
Sagatiba is an ultra-premium cachaça from São Paulo, launched in 2004. It is an exceptionally smooth cachaça perfect for mixing into any rum-based cocktail.
Taste Notes
Fresh mint notes and black pepper on the open. Mid-palate reveals caramelized pear with a spicy, faintly vegetal/bready twist. The finish is clean, crisp and smooth.
Best Served
Sagatiba Cristalina Cachaça Pura is best served as the base for any traditional cachaça cocktail such as the caipirinha or batida.
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
9. Avuá Cachaca Amburana
Overview
- Distiller: Avuá
- ABV: 40% (80 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Pale Gold
Review
Avuá Amburana Cachaça is an aged or ouro cachaça made from the juice of hand cut sugarcane. It is fermented, distilled, and then aged for two years in wooden barrels, imparting black-cherry and spicy caraway notes (for an aquavit vibe).
The brainchild of two New York entrepreneurs, Avuá as a brand only dates to 2009, although the family-owned distillery where it is made, north of Rio de Janeiro, dates back to 1923.
Taste Notes
Initially grassy, with nutmeg, cinnamon, and vanilla notes, leading to an overripe banana and black cherry mid-palate with vague overtones of oak. Finish spicy, with lingering wood.
Best Served
Avuá Amburana Cachaça is best served as a Pan Am cocktail; Mix 2oz Avuá Amburana, 1oz Curaçao, 1oz Dry vermouth, Orange bitters, stirred with an Orange twist.
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
10. Original Pitú do Brasil Cachaça
Overview
- Distiller: Pitú
- ABV: 38% (76 Proof)
- Country: Brazil
- Colour: Clear
Review
Pitú Silver Cachaça is an unaged, or branca cachaça made from fermented and distilled sugarcane grown in the massapê soil of Pernambuco.
The Pitú brand, named after the Pitú prawns in their nearby stream, was launched in 1938 in Vitòria des Santa Antao, Pernambuco state. This 5th generation family business is committed to sustainability and are Green Seal Gold certified.
Taste Notes
Clean and crisp with initial smokiness leads to fresh grass, black pepper, and a hint of saltiness. The finish is long, semi-sweet and buttery with a faint woodiness.
Best Served
Pitú recommends their silver cachaça is best served neat (ice cold) or as the base for a punchy and smoky caipirinha cocktail.
Pricing & Info
You can check the latest pricing, product information, and order online.
Andrew’s Top Pick
Capucana Cachaça
My top pick is Capucana Cachaça because its incredily versitile. You get the unmistakable cachaça grassiness when sipped neat, plus the addition of aloe vera and stewed fruit. The vanilla and citrus zest shine through when used in a caipirinha cocktail.
Cachaça Q&A
What Is Cachaça?
Cachaça is a spirit made from fermented and distilled sugarcane juice rather than molasses, such as rum. It became Brazil’s dominant spirit due to the massive quantities of sugarcane grown since the early colonial days.
How Is Cachaça Made?
Sugarcane juice is extracted from the cane using rollers, blended with water, and fermented using yeast for 24 to 72 hours. The cachaça is then distilled and either bottled right away or aged in wooden barrels. The alcohol by volume must be between 38% and 48%.
What Does Cachaça Taste Like?
Cachaça tastes crisp, grassy and slightly vegetal, with a hint of sweetness similar to tequila. Aged cachaças also take on the flavour of the wooden barrels they’re aged in, imparting distinctive fruity or spicy notes.
Caipirinha Cocktail Recipe
Steve The Barman knows a thing or two about mixing a caipirinha, check out his video:
- Pour a double shot (50ml/ 2.4 fl. oz) of cachaça into a glass
- Add 2tsp of brown sugar
- Add 1 juicy lime cut into 4 wedges
- Gently crush/muddle
- Fill the glass with semi-crushed ice
- Stir & enjoy
Conclusion
It should be pretty apparent that cachaça is a lot more than just ‘Brazilian rum’ and is a complex spirit that will reward exploration. Enjoy aged cachaças neat, or mix this fascinating spirit into a classic caipirinha or one of the many emerging cachaça-based cocktails.
Further Reading
Below are some additional articles from The Drinks Geek blog. We write articles on several fascinating areas of drinks, including different brands, drink types, cocktail recipes and more.
