Cachaça
Alia Akkam

When craving a refreshing cocktail capturing the essence of summer, the mojito is a natural choice, bursting with muddled fresh mint, brown sugar and rum. However, if one drink can give the ever-popular mojito a little healthy competition, it’s the caipirinha, Brazil’s similarly soothing national libation. Made with fresh fruit, ice, sugar and cachaça (sans the hassle of muddling mint), it is slowly becoming an appealing option for Americans. Soon, the caipirinha could be as commonplace as a vodka and tonic at restaurants and bars and in the process, shed some light on this unique Brazilian spirit.

“One of the most significant trends is authenticity in ingredients and I think that’s the biggest advantage for a product like cachaça, which is really unknown. People are just starting to be familiar with a caipirinha (pronounced Ki-pea-ree-nya). It’s grown in interest tremendously. A caipirinha is an entrée into the spirit,” says Allen Katz, director of mixology and spirits education for Southern Wines & Spirits of New York and host of The Cocktail Hour on Martha Stewart Radio.

Cachaça, the Brazilian rum made from distilled sugar cane juice, has gone from relative obscurity in the United States to an intriguing spirit people are interested in learning more about. In Brazil, cachaça flows as freely as water. So why hasn’t America been reaping the benefits of this exotic beverage? Unfortunately, many of the straight-from-Brazil products out there are not of the highest quality. Its rough taste surely would leave a lot to be desired for American palates.

Olie Berlic, founder/CEO, Excalibur Enterprise Inc., a U.S. importer with a full portfolio of spirits from Brazil, developed Beleza Pura with a progressive distillery in Brazil. Concerning the “incredible” growth rate the cachaça category has been experiencing, Berlic says, “There are a lot of misconceptions happening right now, but it’s real and is being driven by small companies and entrepreneurs at this point.” He adds, “There are 40 brands in the U.S. market today with more en route.”

“It’s exciting. There are some fine cachaças that are wonderful spirits. It is something that bars and restaurants are interested in having and the next step is figuring out how to promote it to customers,” says Katz.

Caipirinhas and More

The momentum is increasing, as more and more bartenders are becoming enthusiastic with the spirit. At Grace in Los Angeles, bar manager Jeremiah Doherty makes a caipirinha, but not just a traditional one. His aromatic specialty is Leblon with muddled fresh lavender and blueberries and sweet and sour. Originally, he crafted this cocktail with gin, but then ventured to use cachaça because he preferred its spicier bite. “It’s a lot like vodka in that it’s versatile, not overpowering and not as sweet as rum,” he says.

Caipirinhas are the classic way to go according to Adam Seger, GM of Nacional 27 and beverage director of Osteria via Stato in Chicago. “I like to put my own signature on them with the addition of seasonal fruit. In the summer I make a Michigan black cherry caipirinha by muddling the cherries with lime, cachaça and homemade lime syrup. In the winter, I add fresh blood oranges muddled with my limes, sweetened and then spiked with Água Luca,” he explains.

Five flavors of caipirinhas are in rotation at Atlanta’s TWO.urban licks. Each one is infused with strips of sugar cane and lemongrass with fresh lemon and lime. Bar manager Shelley Labbe says the caipirinhas are always a crowd favorite.

To make enjoying caipirinhas for consumers even more accessible, Caipirinha Sambala Liqueur RTD, imported by Miami-based BerNiko LLC, is available in the U.S. marketplace. The ready-to-drink cocktail is made with natural lemon juice from Brazil, cane sugar, and cachaça.

Excalibur Enterprise also imports a ready-to-drink, the Beleza Pura Caipirinha, that Berlic believes “will drive the cachaça category because consumers can taste what a properly made, high-quality caipirinha should taste like.”

In Colorado, David Lusby, lead bartender of Summit at the Broadmoor Hotel & Resort in Colorado Springs is another supporter of cachaça, but you won’t find him taking a more daring route than traditional caipirinhas and batidas. “Because it’s a new spirit,” he explains, “I want them to order a drink they’re familiar with that’ll set their standards. It comes down to making traditional drinks well.” Lusby will add a little bit of cream and fresh passion fruit juice to give a burst of flavor.

At Tenjune, the hot new club in New York City’s Meatpacking District, Cabana has made its way onto the bottle service list, along with all those popular vodkas. How is the newcomer faring? Eric Marx, the club’s general manager says at first he was hesitant to put it on the list as it wasn’t really moving, but now he’s seen it “dramatically increase” and might sell four or five bottles a week.

While cachaça seems to be steadily taking off in the restaurant realm, what about at home? Are people buying it and experimenting with caipirinhas in their own kitchens and sipping it with their friends?

According to Larry Kaplan, owner of The Wine Cellar in Palatine, IL outside of Chicago, yes. “I’m becoming a ‘cachaçafile,” he says, actively looking to stock his wine shop with a few more good cachaças. “I’ve gone through four or five cases this year. Can I attribute that to better cachaça? Sure, but I also think caipirinhas have become prominent and people want to make them at home.”

On Long Island City, New York, Paul Huston, owner of Hunter’s Point Wines & Spirits believes cachaça needs a leg up since so much of the product category has traditionally been undrinkable. Today, he stocks his shelves with Fazenda Mãe De Ouro, the one he calls the smoothest on the market and thinks it makes for the best gimlet he’s ever had.

Now, there might be a slew of cachaças out there beginning to penetrate the American market, but it has a long way to go before it’s as cluttered and competitive as say tequila. Two newcomers to keep an eye out for are Boca Loca and Sagatiba.

Boca Loca is available in Florida and California with the hope of rolling out to the rest of the country by the end of the year. How will it differentiate itself? Rhonda Follrath, VP of Denver-based Meyer Marino Import Company, says it was created specifically for the U.S. market and touts itself as a “premium cachaça with great packaging.” Without the coveted super-premium branding, that also means a lower price point.

Sagatiba, which has already made its presence known in Europe, is launching in the U.S. in the spring. Lucas Rondas, director of new business development for Sagatiba, says the multi-distilled Sagatiba Pura is truly a Brazilian cachaça; “We bring the flavor of Brazil we want to communicate to customers and show the passion of Brazilians.”

Looking ahead to the future, Olie Berlic confidently asserts, “This category is on the fast track to emulate tequila’s growth in the U.S.” He projects that cachaça is going to grow up into a 100,000 case mark this year and in the next 3 years, he believes it’ll be at 200,000 to 250,000 cases. “The caipirinha has the potential to capture a big chunk of that because it’s easy to understand and consumers get instant gratification.”

cachaça recipes...
that aren’t caipirinhas

The Brazilian Pineapple

4 oz. Pitú Cachaça
2 oz. Pineapple Juice
2 tsp. Lemon Juice
2 tsp. Simple Syrup
1 cup Crushed Ice
2 Pineapple Wedges (garnish)

Combine Pitú Cachaça, pineapple juice, lemon juice and simple syrup in a cocktail shaker and shake vigorously. Strain into a cocktail glass over crushed ice. Garnish with a pineapple wedge. Makes 2 servings.

The Charm O’ Charleston

1 1/2 oz. Cabana Cachaça
Sour Mix
Cranberry Juice
1/4 Lime
1 tsp. Sugar
Mint Leaf

Fill cocktail glass with ice. Place lime, sugar and mint leaf on top of ice and add Cabana Cachaça. Add sour mix and shake vigorously. Top with a splash of cranberry juice.
Leblon Breeze

2 oz. Leblon Cachaça
1 oz. Pineapple Juice
1 oz. Cranberry Juice

Pour all ingredients into a highball glass over ice. Stir and garnish with a pineapple slice. (Note: Pomegranate juice can be substituted in place of cranberry juice to create a Leblon Pomegranate Breeze.)

The Passionfruit Batida

1 1/2 oz. Aqua Luca Cachaça
1 1/2 oz. Passion Fruit juice
3/4 oz. Lime juice
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
3/4 oz. of Cream

Place all ingredients into mixing glass, add ice. Shake and strain over crushed ice. Garnish with a lime wheel.

When it comes to forecasting cachaça’s future, everyone’s got a different prediction. Could it become one of the hottest spirit categories? We asked some industry folks, including a few good bartenders and cachaça entrepreneurs themselves, what they think will happen.

“It will certainly have its heyday and you will have a base of core customers who are going to seek out the better produced cachaças.”
- Larry Kaplan, The Wine Cellar, Palatine, IL

“Cachaça ultimately is a rum and it can go beyond caipirinhas. People have to realize this is a spirit that can be used in a lot of cocktails.”
- Matti Anttila, Cabana Cachaça

“It’s not vodka, it’s not tequila. It takes a lot of experience to get people to really get it. I think it will grow, but it may take many years before there’s significant volume.”
- David “Cachaça Dave” Catania, Fazenda Mãe De Ouro Cachaça

“Twenty years ago people didn’t hear of tequila and look at it now.”
- Rhonda Follrath,
Meyer Marino Import Company (Boca Loca)

“The caipirinha is slated to be the next margarita. It’s food friendly, sensually pleasing and not polarizing like other cocktails and it’s fresh-ingredient focused.”
—Steve Luttman, Leblon Cachaça

“As mixologists and great operators bring more and more fresh fruit into their bars, cachaça is a natural fit. Also, with new luxury brands available, cachaça is poised to compete head on with rums and blanco tequilas.”
- Adam Seger,
Nacional 27 and Osteria Via Stato, Chicago

“There needs to be more education first [before it skyrockets]. Because the interest in cocktails is so strong, you can’t shut the door on the possibility, but people are just on the precipice.”
- Allen Katz, host of Martha Stewart Radio’s The Cocktail Hour and president of the NY chapter of the United States Bartenders Guild

“Until now there weren’t strong enough brands to be a global product. The category has a lot of potential to grow. More and more people are interested in Brazilian culture.”
– Lucas Rondas, Sagatiba