First bottle of cachaca--disappointed

[jumpyg]

I picked up a bottle of Agua Luca--cool bottle. Opened it up and was disappointed to smell a faint resemblance to tequila, which I do not like. Sipped a little and also was reminded of tequila. I made up a caipirinha with limes, superfine sugar, and ice. It was okay, but not nearly as good as I was expecting.

Am I crazy to be reminded of tequila? It certainly wasn't like rum, which is what I was expecting. It's always disappointing to buy a fifth and liquor and then not really like it. Especially when it's something most people haven't heard of and probably won't want to try. I'd really like to try other cachacas--too bad I can't find the airplane bottles of it.

[scubadoo97]

No you certainly are not crazy for picking up on that tequila taste. Be assured there is no tequila in it. It is made from sugar cane juice but it is not aged or when aged is aged for about 1 year tops. I find the taste a cross between rum and tequila. I like it but if my mouth was ready for a sweet aged rum it would be a shock.

[yarm]

I have a 3 year old cachaça (Isaura Ouro) and have drank as old as 12 year old (Rochinha). There is a lot of variety out there, but like rum, the aged stuff is for export or for special occasions. Most cachaça in Brazil is unaged or lightly aged.

[scubadoo97]

Yes I was speaking of the majority of cachaca found in the US. Most are Industrial and a few for export only. There are many artisan aged brands we will never see

[elvisahmed]

Which among these would you recommend for Caprinha (I like Pitu so far and have tried Leblon and didn't like it)
. CACHACA GUAPIARA
. CUCA FRESCA CACHACA PURA GOLD-AGED
. PITU CACHACA
. PORTO MORRETES CACHAÇA
. SAGATIBA PURA CACHACA BRAZILIAN RUM
. WEBER HAUS CACHAÇA

[scubadoo97]

Of your list I've only had Pitu and didn't like it. I have had Leblon and like it better than Pitu. Would love to try the rest on your list

[elvisahmed]

Thanks for your input guys I just like Cachacha for Caprinas.
The list contains all they Sell in Ontario and the other provinces have even less variety so I am pretty much limited to what they sell here due to the monopoly.
I bought Rum Toucano Cachaca made by Ypioca and like leblon it was waaay too smooth for Caprinhas. One friend brought 2 bottles of Cachaca from Brazil I can't even recall or Pronounce what its name was but it was a dark brown bottle and was just plain awful and gave me headaches every time drank even a little bit. I had to use it all on party mixing it with sprite and gave the other one away :)

[yarm]

I've had the Pitu and it's a bit harsh and industrial. Probably would make a decent Caipirinha though.

We got sent sample bottles of the Cuca Fresca gold and silver. They were pretty decent -- not harsh, but not overly clean and boring. Still had a decent grass funkiness to it.

We reviewed the spirits in the link below, but here's an excerpt, "Tasting them straight, the distillers did a good job as both contained the right level of grassy and funky notes without any off or harsh flavors. The gold version had aromas of tropical fruits like banana and coconut from the barrel aging process."

http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/20...

[pb n foie]

Sagatiba is really nice stuff!

[scubadoo97]

Good to know. I was just in the liquor store and they had the Pura on sale for $9.99. Guess I should pick up a bottle.

[nycbyme]

The best cachaca for caipirinha is VELHO BARREIRO. I'm not sure where you can find here in US, but in Brazil mostly the people makes caipirinha w/velho barreiro, it's cheap and good.
http://www.tatuzinho.com.br/

[elvisahmed]

Thanks for the link thats the Cachaca I tried that my friends brought from Brazil after I saw the bottle on the website. It just gave me such a headache that I had to give away the other bottle.
As for what is availability I am worse off than US (I live in Canada now) and we can only buy what is available at the Gov owned store here due to a monopoly. You can import stuff that they don't sell locally but its cost prohibitive.

[quazi]

I think this is very good. If only it were available in the US

[quazi]

I have never been impressed with Agua Luca. Lack any flavor. In my area(NC) the best available are Gandaia and Leblon. Gandaia smells horrible but its rough edge is great in a caipirinha. Not sure i have tried any in locally available that would be good for sipping.

You may not like cachaca which is no crime. Best bet is to try other cachacas in bars or restaurants.

[JMF]

cachaca isn't rum. It is a sugarcane juice spirit. Although technically it qualifies as rum by the US TTB standards, it is a different critter. Some cachaca does have slight similarities to tequila, if you mean earthy and vegetal notes. Various cachaca have very different flavor profiles. There are industrial cachacas, and artisanal ones. The industrail ones go for $1-3 a bottle in Brazil, and many of the artisanal ones go for hundreds, even thousands of dollars a bottle. The flavor profile is all over the map, over 20 types of wood can be used in the aging process. There are over 5,000 cachaca distilleries in Brazil, only a handful make it to the US. I recommend Leblon as a good one that is available here.

Agua Luca isn't a traditional cachaca. It is more of a entry level cachaca made for the American market. High on marketing, low on actual flavor.

[yarm]

Well, in my opinion, denying that it's rum is like denying that Scotch is whiskey.

There are rums that use only sugar cane juice including rhum agricoles and 10 Cane brand. But like rhum agricole, cachaça is a regional product with certain guidelines for its production.

Like JMF said, there's a lot of variety out there with cachaças although only some of them make it out to this country (more if you have a Brazilian population in your neighborhood).

This thread might give you some suggestions of what might suit your palate better:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/577798

[elvisahmed]

Hey JMF I bought a bottle of Leblon based on your recommendation as I think its too smooth. I like Pitu so far as it has nice rough finish. Any other recommendations on using this premium cachacha?

[yarm]

It is like some rums, like rhum agricoles from Martinique. It is very unlike the average smooth Bacardi-ized rums. I could see how it could have a blanco tequila aspect to it.

There are definitely some sipping cachaças like GRM and Rochinha (both of which are barrel aged for extended periods of time), but most are rather rough and funky and are meant to be mixed with.

I just googled the specific cachaça you bought and it's one of the "super premium" ones that was filter 12 times. It might be still too raw to sip, but not raw enough to make a good Caipirinha. There's a Brazilian maxim, "Quanto pior a cachaca, melhor a caipirinha (the worse the cachaca, the better the caipirinha)."

http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/

[elvisahmed]

Hey I like that saying as I bought some premium Cachaca at the Local LCBO but didn't like it it was way too smooth. I have swicthed back to Pitu which has nice rough finish for Caprihina

[yarm]

Same goes for many spirits -- smoother is sometimes desirable for cocktails and other times a disaster. For example, in white rums, the Periodista is delightful with a flavorful but not harsh white rum (some recipes call for a dark rum which are often more gentle as well), whereas the 12 Mile is a lame drink with a similar rum. The 12 Mile was created during Prohibition when the rum was harsher and the drink only prospers with a rum of that style.

The 12 Mile (our Periodista post will be up in a few days):
http://cocktailvirgin.blogspot.com/20...