Cachaca_Dave
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Posts posted by Cachaca_Dave
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Yeah I read the LA Times article. And I really wasn't very impressed because there are a number errors in the story:
"Pirapora, which is aged three years, about as old as cachaça ever gets."
WRONG - cachaca can be much older. Pirapora is aged 3 years? No comment.
(speaking about Batuque) - "At about $33, it's as expensive as cachaça gets"
WRONG - some of the Excaliber brands sell for more
"In Brazil," says Luciano Baioco, a bartender at Gauchos Village in Glendale, "they have traditional wooden cups for muddling the lime and sugar. Brazilians shake it, they don't stir it. … When you stir it, you blend the ice."
-When I met with countless cachaca producers in Brazil there was not a single demonstration where the drink was shaken. (But everyone to the last man did cut the core out of the lime.)
"Caninha da Roça, a brand that's never been imported to the U.S. " - WRONG it's here now and distributed by Southern W&S in NY as Cachaca Da Roca.
"...Ypióca and 51. John Davis, a bartender at Fogo de Chão in Beverly Hills, calls the last two "the Absolut and Grey Goose of cachaças." - I think this guy was seripusly misquoted.
What I'm starting to see in the market is some very savvy marketers. Because the US authorities have so little experience with cachaca basically anyone can slap "aged X years" on a bottle and get away with it. This comment clearly excludes the quality Excliber brands which I am sure are even older than their age statements claim (age statements can only be for full years).
Furthermore there is this one brand that has just come out with an "alimbique" cachaca (I'm not saying who). Just one harsh taste tells me it's an industrial cachaca in the bottle. That sort of thing just makes my blood pressure go up....
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I had the pleasure of tasting scorpion mezcal at the Taste of Wall Street Event where they had a table next to mine. Really excellent stuff. A friend of mine bought back some "super premium" tequila from Mexico for me and it wasn't as good as the scorpion mezcal I tried (silver).
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I checked out the wine shop that these guys have on route 136 - great stuff. I really like that they don't have a massive inventory, just wines that they like. I also picked up a couple of Belgian beers that I have yet to try. Looking forward to trying their eatery!
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Well the San Francisco World Spirit Competition results are in for Cachaca. Personally I think that lack of experience by the judges has resulted in some incorrect results, but what do I know.
DOUBLE GOLD
Rochinha Single Barrel Cachaça, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil [41%] ($38) Importer: Excalibur Enterprise - Cos Cob, CT www.excaliburenterprise.com
SILVER
Agua Luca Cachaça, Brazil [40%] ($25) Importer: Excelsior Imports - Atlanta, GA
Beleza Superior Premium Cachaça, Sao Paulo, Brazil [40%] ($28 for 750ml) Importer: Excalibur Enterprise - Cos Cob, CT www.belezabrazil.com / www.excaliburenterprise.com
BRONZE
Caçhaca Fazenda Mâe de Ouro Cachaça, Brazil [40%] ($28 for 1 liter) Importer: USA Wine Imports - NY, NY www.caipirinha.us
Cachaça Safari Cyro Eloy Safari, Brazil [40%] Importer: Hydromex Distributing Co. - Salt Lake City, UT
Toucano Gold Cachaça, Ceara, Brazil [40%] ($25) Importer: Preiss Imports - Ramona, CA www.preissimports.com
Ypioca Ouro Ceara, Brazil [39%] ($25) Importer: Preiss Imports - Ramona, CA www.preissimports.com
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Pirassununga is one of three brands available in Washington State, Pitu and Ypioca Silver being the other two. Of the three, which one should I try first?
If forced I would drink Pirassununga 51 over the others.
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The first time I had pisco I was drinking it with some Peruvians in the back of a bodega in Williamsburg with an illegal kitchen that turned out some of the most incredible seafood dishes I've ever had. (it has since closed)
The brand that we drinking was called Santiago Queirolo and it was awesome. Done as straight shots it was super smooths and sweet. I WAS planning to import some but someone beat me to it. AND since I have the New York Metro liquor price book here: Wholesale is $15.35 per fifth, so it should retail for $20. But the distributor is pretty small so you have to ask your liquor store to order it I'm guessing. I've had others and they're not as good. Of course the one I had was aged maybe 2 years, and this one might not be.
Distributor: Five Star Fine Products 516-845-4646 www.5starfineproducts.com
Looks like they also distribute the line of Inner Circle Rums as well.
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Dumb question, but in which way are cachaca and rum prepared differently?
Well since there are few official standards for cachaca most of what we see here in the USA is "Industrial Cachaca" which is quite similar to the aguadentes found throughout South America. Traditional "cachaca amilbique" is quite different.
I define authentic cachaca as 1) being fermented from fresh sugar cane juices (like rhum agricole) 2) Fermented using naturally occurring yeasts (traditionally a measure of corn from the field) 3) having a short (18-24 hour) fermentation 4) being distilled using a pot still (like cognac) 5) having little or no water added before bottling.
Hope this helps.
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I don't think we'll be seeing Germana here in the USA any time soon unless they make a serious effort to use new bottles that are of regulation size and improve their quality control.
When my company was considering which cachaca to import to the USA we were in discussions with the cachaca cooperative that owns Germana and another brand called Samba e Cana. To make a long story short their own pride and greed sunk our talks very early in the negotiations.
One way that I used to evaluate cachaca is to take a clean glass, pour a bit of cachaca into it, swirl it around, then pour it out. You then take the glass and leave it on the table overnight. Sounds crazy no? Well smell the glass the next morning. If you smell off odors similar to wet newspapers there are some major problems with the product (contains ethers, esters, volatile acids, etc...). Collectively called "congeners" by some these bi-products of distillation are what causes those week long hangovers. While some would claim that it is these bi-products that give cachaca it's flavor, I strongly disagree.
We didn't check the Germana brand because we had already decided that we were not going to do business with them. With the other brands the clean glass test usually confirmed that they were a quality product after they described their distillation process to us. Folks that talked a good game, but failed the clean glass test were not called back.
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recently the brazilian legislation has been changed> Everything distilled between 48% and 54% must be called aguardiente de cana/ So this is officially not cachaça.
If it's true then Pitu, 51, Ypioca and the other big brands would have to go back to being aguardiente de cana, reversing the 2001 degree that "established cachaça as the official and exclusive name for cane alcohol in Brazil"
Maybe "bottled between 48-54%"? All the big brands are distilled at much higher proofs but bottled at 39-43%.
-Dave
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When I was last in Brazil I really liked drinking Germana. I think that they use Banana leaves when they filter it, which gives it a sweeter taste. The one thing that drove me nuts was the recycled bottles that they use under the banana leaf wrapping. And for their 375ml bottle? RANDOM BEER BOTTLES
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Good news everyone! While Platforma is famous in Brazil folks from Rio would most likely send you to Churrascaria Porcao http://www.porcao.com.br/ You have got to love their logo which is a fat pig. LOL
And here's the news: Churrascaria Porcao is now under construction at 25th Street and Park Ave here in NYC.
I live in CT and it has it's perks, expecially when I need a Churrascaria fix. Bridgeport and Danbury have a huge Brazilian population from the state of Minas so naturally the food is starting to pop up everywhere. Most recently the Minas Grill opened in Bridgeport and they have all the authentic meats and salad but they do for 6 bucks a pound. Exceptional!
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Not all cachaça is created equally. In fact until 2001 most of the “cachaça” produced in Brazil was identical to all the other aguadentes of South America. So what happened? Brazilian President Fernando Enrique Cardoso signed “a decree establishing cachaça as the official and exclusive name for cane alcohol in Brazil.” And so with the stroke of a pen a noble name was awarded to even the worst moonshine.
As the esteemed Ed Hamilton said the flavor of cachaça can vary based on rainfall and weather. However there are countless other variables that influence the final product such as the soil, if the cane is hand cut or machine cut, and what type of wood the cachaça is aged in.
The first thing to ask about a cachaça is the method of production. “Cachaça Industrial” is produced using a 20 foot stainless steel column still, which is how most spirits in the world are produced. “Cachaça Alimbique” is produced using a copper still that could be used to distill cognac in a pinch.
To quote a statistic: In 2003 Brazil produced 1 billion liters of industrial cachaça and 500 million liters of alimbique cachaça. In that same year 19.5 million liters of industrial cachaça was exported while only 500,000 liters of alimbique cachaça was exported (2.6% of the exports).
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Regarding the ATF Press release.... yes that was in reaction to the press release that my company issued on them approving our cachaça as a “distilled spirit specialty”. When the press release went out we made the mistake of saying the TTB approved it as a "distinct specialty spirit". What is the difference? Well if read by people in the liquor industry it sounded like we were announcing that the TTB approved all cachaça as a new spirit category as unique as cognac is to France. Needless to say they were very upset with us and we corrected the press release to make amends. But many months have passed since then and we’re still waiting for our label to be approved by them.
Cachaça
in Spirits & Cocktails
Posted
Jason,
Thank you very much for coming to the event and your kind words! Caipirinhas were the tost of the night with everyone coming back for seconds, thirds and fourths! And the bartender Andy was shocked at how much he made in tips - $242 in about 3 hours with 95% of the drinks being caipirinhas. We used up all the limes in the entire neighborhood and poured till we ran out of everything.
I'll have to mix up these drinks and add them to our drink list - they sound delicious and have great names as well. "contributed by Perlow" will be included of course!
Regards,
David Catania