Somewhere, deep in the tropical heat of Brazil, about 450 years ago, slaves on sugarcane plantations drank leftover cane juice after allowing it to ferment. Eventually, it was chanced upon that distilling the fermented cane juice pushed its potency to a new level.
Although sugarcane was introduced by the Portuguese in Brazil in the 16th century, the Cachaca is almost exclusively Brazilian. In the early days, this potent libation was used as a medicinal tonic for ailments. Who said drinking isn’t good for health?
Cachaca was almost exclusively the drink of the lower strata, while the elite in Brazil preferred the imported cognac and scotch. The poor man’s drink spread like wildfire after the caipirinha (Cachaca based drink with lime and granulated sugar) became an A-list drink, and featured as one of the IBA Official Cocktails for use in the annual World Cocktail Competition.
