Cachaça isn’t just for caipirinhas.

by Jake Emen | Feb 16, 2018

It’s almost a guarantee that any trip to Brazil will be laden with the intrinsic pleasures of beachside caipirinhas. The cocktail is made with cachaça, showcasing Brazil’s 500-year-old spirit of choice. Cachaça is distilled from fermented sugarcane juice, making it a cousin of rum and, more specially, of rhum agricole, or cane juice rum, though with an even longer history.

The good news is that even when you’re back home there’s no need to stop your newfound Brazilian love affair—we’re still talking about the cachaça! It’s now readily available in the U.S., and some of the best bottles are barrel-aged using indigenous Brazilian woods that deliver entirely unique flavors…

…We couldn’t be celebrating the use of oft illegally forested Brazilian woods unless brands were following proper sourcing protocols, however. “Sustainability is the major question when using Brazilian woods to age cachaça,” says Agenor Maccari Jr., Ph.D., master distiller of Novo Fogo Cachaça. “How can we guarantee the future supply of native woods when many of the trees are endangered?”

<blockquote class=”instagram-media” data-instgrm-captioned data-instgrm-permalink=”https://www.instagram.com/p/BfLrDKflIZG/” data-instgrm-version=”8″ style=” background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% – 2px); width:calc(100% – 2px);”><div style=”padding:8px;”> <div style=” background:#F8F8F8; line-height:0; margin-top:40px; padding:50% 0; text-align:center; width:100%;”> <div style=” background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC); display:block; height:44px; margin:0 auto -44px; position:relative; top:-22px; width:44px;”></div></div> <p style=” margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;”> <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/BfLrDKflIZG/” style=” color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;” target=”_blank”>A Caipirinha with muddled pomegranate is a drink for lovers. #ValentinesDay</a></p> <p style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;”>A post shared by <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/novofogo/” style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;” target=”_blank”> Novo Fogo Organic Cachaça</a> (@novofogo) on <time style=” font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;” datetime=”2018-02-14T15:37:17+00:00″>Feb 14, 2018 at 7:37am PST</time></p></div></blockquote> <script async defer src=”//www.instagram.com/embed.js”></script>

Novo Fogo has been proactive in this regard, carefully vetting the companies they source wood and barrels from, while also taking the extra step of creating a reforestation project, partnering with a protected 42-acre private reserve with the aim of planting 10,000 endangered trees.

“Producers of aged cachaça represent an industry that can either choose to indirectly fuel illegal deforestation by buying Brazilian wood barrels from questionable sources, or to support a more sustainable path by sourcing Brazilian woods thoughtfully and legally, and by being transparent about the potential risks posed by products that utilize vulnerable Brazilian trees,” says Luke McKinley, Novo Fogo’s marketing director.

For its Two-Woods series, Novo Fogo uses Brazilian woods to finish cachaças primarily matured in American oak, thereby using less Brazilian wood while also balancing the bold flavors the woods offer. “Ninety-seven percent of our barrels are American oak, and the remaining three percent are Brazilian wood barrels,” Maccari says. “For us, Brazilian woods are the exception, not the rule. Each of our barrels has an origin, a history.” That’s resulted in occasionally unusual, though effective, tactics. “The wood for our araribá barrels came from the demolition of a partner’s house!”

Releases include Colibri, refined with the aforementioned amburana, along with Tanager, inflected with that araribá (zebrawood), and Graciosa, finished with castanheira (Brazil nut). The former is resinous, earthy, and tannic, with the “personality of a forest,” according to Maccari, while the latter is distinctively nutty, redolent of almonds and pecans, along with cherries and spice.

With the sustainability issue accounted for, you can enjoy guilt-free caipirinhas, though you should also, ahem, branch out. Cachaças with these types of unique flavors are great for sipping neat or pairing with beer, a tradition sometimes known as tabelinha, referring to the quick back-and-forth passing of the “beautiful game.” The cocktail possibilities are endless, too, with cachaça seamlessly subbing for anything from rum to whiskey or even gin depending on its profile…

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