Cheers

Cheers

The Beverage Business Magazine for Full-Service Restaurants and Bars

  • Beverage Trends
    • Beer
    • Wine
    • Spirits
    • Wine Reviews
    • Marketing
    • Operations
  • Recipes
    • What I’m Drinking Now
    • Submit a Drink Recipe
  • Resources
    • eRNDC Login
    • SG Proof Login
    • CORE: Children of Restaurant Employees
  • Events & Awards
    • Cheers Beverage Summit
    • Growth Brands
    • BevX Awards
    • Supplier Awards
  • Podcasts
  • E-News
    • E-News Subscribe
  • Digital Issues
  • Cheers@Home

Cachaça Eyes A Comeback

05/02/2022

by: Thomas Henry Strenk

Mutiny Pirate Bar & Island Grille

Don’t call it Brazilian rum. Although it’s often lumped into the rum category, cachaça — Brazil’s sugarcane-based spirit — has unique character and a protected status much like Tequila and Champagne.

“When describing cachaça to guests, we talk about how it is a fresh cane juice distillate from Brazil,” says John Fry, bar manager at Rumba in Seattle, which stocks several different expressions. “It is more grassy, vegetal, and drier than what most people think about rum or sugarcane distillates.”

Most cachaça is consumed in Brazil. Thanks to its huge popularity there and the country’s population, cachaça is one of the most consumed distilled spirits by volume, behind China’s Baiju and Korean Soju.

Thousands of cachaça brands exist but just a few are exported to the U.S. Among those are Avua, Germana, Leblon, Novo Fogo, Pirassununga, Pitu, Yaguara and Ypioca. 

The spirit got a bump of interest in 2014 when Brazil hosted the World Cup, and again during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Cachaça is still relatively unknown by most American consumers and still needs hand-selling by bar staff.

“Our team enjoys educating guests on all the different varieties at our bar including the difference between cachaça and traditional rum,” says David Hersh, owner of Rooted Hospitality Group in Center Moriches, NY. “Our guests appreciate learning about the process of fermenting sugarcane vs. molasses and often choose to try cachaça in their go-to cocktail.”

Advertisement

At Mutiny Pirate Bar & Island Grille in Maryland (shown atop), “We carry a couple of cachaças,” says general manager Nate Hynson, “and we probably fought trimming down that category for far too long because two is really all you need, or at least, that’s been our experience.”

Mutiny carries Leblon and Avua Amburana. “The first is light and clean, and a popular and recognizable brand; it makes a great cocktail,” Hynson says. “The second is aged for two years in barrels coopered from Brazilian amburana wood.”

Cocktails are key. The popularity of the Caipirinha, traditionally made with cachaça, muddled limes, sugar and ice, has driven most of the trial in the U.S.

“Our guests usually drink cachaça in cocktails, particularly our Caipirinha,” says Fred Jason, general manager at Casta’s Rum Bar in Washington D.C. “Cachaça is not something we get a lot of ‘straight up’ requests for.”

“The easiest way to introduce cachaça to customers is to make a Caipirinha, but it can even be tricky to talk people into that,” says Hynson. “Fresh-pressed sugarcane juice makes an edgier spirit than molasses does, so it’s not as velvety and approachable as most rums. That being said, a good cachaça is every bit as nuanced and complex.”

One boost for the category is from cachaça-based ready-to-drink cocktails. Novo Fogo distributes its Caipirinha in a can to the U.S. market and recently introduced an RTD cachaça riff on an Old Fashioned. Maybe that will ignite American consumers’ interest.

“I love cachaça and think it’s about to have another comeback,” predicts Amanda Sasser, managing partner at The CanTiki, a new cantina/Tiki bar in Glendale, CA.

Thomas Henry Strenk is a Brooklyn-based writer specializing in all things drinkable.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Cachaça rum

Last modified: 05/17/2022

Previous Story:
Orphan Barrel Launches Fable & Folly 14-Year Whiskey
Jack Daniel’s Bonded Tennessee Whiskey and Jack Daniel’s Triple Mash Blended Straight Whiskey. Next Story:
Jack Daniel’s Releases Two Bottled In Bond Whiskeys

About the Author: Thomas Henry Strenk

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




In The News

  • Freddie Noe Named Master Distiller of Fred B. Noe Distillery
  • Sonoma-Cutrer Releases Two New California Chardonnay Vintages
  • Podcast: Legal Cannabis and Cannabis Beverages
  • The Duckhorn Acquires 265-Acre Cab Sauv Vineyard in Paso Robles
  • Brooklyn Brewery Redesigns Brooklyn Pilsner
  • DoorDash Acquires BBot
More News >>
logo
Food Advertisements by

Follow Us

Facebook
Twitter

Featured Drink

  • Attitude Is Everything
    Attitude Is Everything cocktail

Drink Recipes

  • Attitude Is Everything
  • Amor de Madre
  • 8 Cinco de Mayo Drinks For 2022
  • Lavender Daisy
  • Beach Ritual

Current Issue

Cheers Current Issue

Cheers Magazine

  • About Cheers
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Subscribe
  • Market Research

Events & Awards

  • Beverage Excellence Awards
  • Cheers Beverage Summit
  • Growth Brands Awards

Magazines

  • Cheers
  • Beverage Dynamics
  • StateWays
  • Beverage Wholesaler
  • Beverage Handbooks (research)

E-Newsletters

  • Better Bartending
  • Cheers
  • Beverage Dynamics
  • StateWays
  • Beverage Wholesaler
  • Beverage Universe
  • Cannabis Regulator
  • About EPG Brand Acceleration
  • Send File
  • Privacy Policy
© Cheers Magazine. All rights reserved.