Cachaça... Recognized!

April 11, 2012

Cachaça... Recognized!

Things have been quiet around here with work, gradschool, and daddydom, so you know this has to be big.

The old, weary, unelected giants of concrete and steel have seen it fit to "recognize" cachaça as distinctively Brazilian, presumably in exchange for reciprocal recognition of bourbon and Tennessee whiskey (no, not the same thing) as distinctively American.

The rest of us... like... you know... work for a living.

Hat-tip to Copa's Jason Montgomery, who was first to me with the news.

Hopefully, this will mean an end to ridiculous labeling laws that gave us the idiotic and obligatory "Brazilian Rum" label. Just in time, too, with the Brazil-hosted World Cup and Olympics just around the corner. Hopefully, the Federal Register shaved a page or two off of its 80,000+ pages this week.

Leblon (leaders of the "Legalize Cachaça" campaign) is understandably throwing some happy hours. In case you're not on their list, here they are:

New York: Lani Kai – Friday April 13, 6-8pm
Miami: Novecento - Thursday April 12, 6-8pm
Chicago: Union Sushi - Thursday April 12, 6-8pm
Philadelphia: Alma de Cuba – Friday April 13, 7-9pm
Rio de Janeiro: Fasano – Friday April 13, 6-9pm
São Paulo: Mocotó – Friday April 13, 6-9pm | Mani – Friday April 13, 6-9pm

Okay, cachaça marketers... You now officially have no excuse! Cachaça is "legalized." All eyes are going to be on Brazil for the next four years at least. At least a few of you have been acquired by, or otherwise received money from, some of the booze industry's deepest pockets. Interest in Brazilian culture will never be higher in the foreseeable future. If you cannot make it happen in the next four years... GIVE. IT. UP. The ball is in a dead hover over home plate.

Yes, I know "cachaça" and "caipirinha" are tough for the gringos to pronounce. But they figured out "mo-HEE-toe" for Pete'sPedro's sake! Interest in creative cockails is up across the board. Hell... There's was even a cute animated movie set in (and took its name from) Rio... with an Angry Birds tie-in to boot! Hell... Even survival-horror dead-enders forgot about Turistas ages ago.

Now's your moment, guys. Boa sorte!

Posted by Phil Gomes on April 11, 2012 at 09:00 PM in State Of The Spirit | Permalink

Comments

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let the games begin!

Posted by: steve luttmann | April 12, 2012 at 08:58 AM

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About Cachaçagora

Hi. My name is Phil Gomes. By day, I work at a public relations firm as its senior vice president of digital integration. I'm a proud SF East Bay native who currently lives in Chicago.
I was introduced to cachaça by my wife, a Carioca. Her mom, in turn, is the president of the Confraria de Cachaça do Copo Furado, a group that meets monthly to talk about Brazil's indigenous spirit. I participated in one of their meetings when I vacationed in Rio in July 2008.
This started me thinking about the basic question of whether cachaça in the U.S. is today where, say, tequila was some decades ago.
So I decided to start this blog as a means to record and share the cachaça-related items I've been seeing day-to-day. I hope to be sharing recipes, impressions, and random thoughts as the U.S. continues to catch on to the potential for this particular spirit.
Oh... The name? "Cachaçagora" is a portmanteau of "Cachaça" and "agora", which is the Portuguese word for "now". In Greek, "agora" also means public square. I hope to meet the expectations of both.
Saúde!
cachacagora~~ at~~ gmail~~ dot~~ com

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Cachaçagora - Cachaça, Caipirinha, And Cocktails

Quite possibly the best English-language blog about cachaça, the national distilled spirit of Brazil.

April 11, 2012