What does cachaça taste like?
Cachaça tastes grassy, fruity and a little funky: a Brazilian sugarcane spirit that's earthier and more vegetal than most rum, with a peppery bite and a hint of banana.
Cachaça
grassy, funky sugarcane spirit
Cachaça (say 'ka-SHAH-sa') is Brazil's national spirit, made from fresh sugarcane juice rather than the molasses most rum uses. That gives it a green, grassy flavor, like cut cane stalks, with ripe fruit and a slight funk. Unaged (white) cachaça is sharper and more vegetal. Aged cachaça may rest in native Brazilian woods as well as oak, picking up spice, vanilla or nutty flavors you won't find elsewhere. Its closest relative is rhum agricole, the French Caribbean rum also made from cane juice.
Where you’ll see it
In the caipirinha, Brazil's national cocktail (cachaça, lime and sugar, muddled over ice), in batidas (shakes with fruit and condensed milk), and in tropical drinks at Brazilian steakhouses.
Order it if you like rum and limes and want something greener, funkier and more rustic.
Quick questions
- Is cachaça the same as rum?
- It's a close cousin. Both come from sugarcane, but cachaça is made from fresh cane juice, not molasses, so it's grassier and funkier than most rum.
- What's the difference between a caipirinha and a mojito?
- A caipirinha is cachaça, lime and sugar, muddled. A mojito is white rum, lime, sugar, mint and soda, so it's lighter and minty.