Cheers Magazine On Cachaça

Cuca Fresca's Phoenix Kelly-Rappa sent over this article from Cheers Magazine, wherein cachaça is positioned as an emerging spirit in a world where "vodka is the next vodka."

Akin to rum is Brazil’s sexy native spirit, cachaça, which is distilled from unrefined sugar cane juice. Cachaça grew 240 percent since 2002 to reach 80,000 cases, according to [Beverage Information Group's manager of information services Eric] Schmidt, who analyzed data from the Brazilian government and suppliers. “It should break 100,000 cases this year,” he projects, noting that cachaça is the third largest spirit worldwide.

“Cachaça will benefit from the equity cocktail, the Caipirinha, much the way light rums are benefiting from the Mojito,” observes Ryan Magarian, founder of drinks consultancy Liquid Relations in Portland, Ore. “But the spirit is a bit raw, so it’s not for sipping.”

"Not for sipping?" Uhhh... Who says?

Frankly, this goes to show how far the experts in the beverage industry need to go. Cachaça's reputation as a strong, rough, cheap form of cane-based Brazilian moonshine is way out-of-date.

While it can be argued that white cachacas are generally not for sipping, this too is a conventional wisdom that I completely deny. After all, the first five-barrel cachaça that I'll be sharing with you all is a white cachaça.