Natural form

Fresh-cut sugarcane stalks, the raw material distilled into cachaça.

Shows the defining raw ingredient that distinguishes cachaça from rum — fresh sugarcane juice, not molasses.

Beverages

Cachaça

Grassy Brazilian cane spirit — the soul of the caipirinha

Distilled from fresh sugarcane juice, cachaça is grassy and funky, and the essential base of Brazil's caipirinha. Keep the bottle at room temperature.

Cachaça is Brazil's national spirit — distilled not from molasses like most rum but from fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, which gives it a grassy, vegetal, funky brightness all its own. Unaged (branca) cachaça is clear and herbaceous; aged (amarela/envelhecida) versions pick up oak and gold. It's the soul of the Caipirinha, muddled with lime and sugar, and in the kitchen its green, cane-forward character lifts tropical fruit, marinades, and glazes with a freshness that molasses rum can't match.

Measured in: ml
Storage: Room Temperature

Find it in

Beverages

Types & varieties

Branca/prata

Unaged, clear, grassy — caipirinhas

Amarela/ouro

Aged in wood, golden, smoother

Envelhecida

Longer-aged, oaky, for sipping

How to use in cooking

Cachaça's grassy cane note pairs naturally with lime and tropical fruit. Use it in a caipirinha-style fruit macerate, a glaze for grilled pineapple or pork, or a marinade brightened with lime and chili. Aged cachaça behaves more like a light rum for desserts. Flame or briefly simmer to soften its assertive raw edge.

How to choose

Branca (white/unaged) is the workhorse for fresh cooking and caipirinhas. Aged cachaça (amarela) is smoother and oakier, better for sipping and desserts. Artisanal pot-still cachaças have more character than mass-produced column-still ones.

Common uses

Macerate lime and fruit (caipirinha-style)Glaze grilled pineapple or porkMarinate with lime and chiliBrighten tropical fruit saladsDeglaze a pan for a cane-fresh sauceSpike a coconut dessert