Cachaça Love, Part One
A few weeks ago, Mãe De Ouro U.S. brand manager Dave Catania came by the DT office to talk cachaça. I was familiar with the spirit from the selfless tasting I did for Food & Wine magazine's cocktail guide, but my colleagues (who I promptly bored with talk of stills) were befuddled. At their request, a quick and dirty guide to the most unpronounceable spirit (for the record, it's ka-CHA-sa):
Basically, cachaça is a rum-like spirit made largely in Brazil. Unlike rum, though, most cachaça is made from sugarcane juice--not molasses.
As for Mãe De Ouro, Catania (a.k.a. Cachaça Dave) said, "As far as I am aware, we are the only brand in the U.S. that is 100 percent made on one estate, without any raw materials coming from outside sources." Made from unburnt sugarcane, which producers hand cut and crush immediately to preserve freshness, the liquid goes through a fermentation process using natural yeast and is then transferred to traditional Alambic stills. After distillation, it ages for one year in oak barrels before being bottled--with no added water. In other words, this stuff is pure. (In other words, no hangovers.)
For Catania (who is currently in New Orleans for Tales of the Cocktail . . . sigh), it all started with a Brazilian girlfriend. That relationship led to trips all over Minas Gerais, THE cachaça-producing state in southeast Brazil, which in turn led to Catania becoming the U.S. brand manager for Mãe De Ouro. I guess you could call his work a true labor of love. (He and said bonita are no longer together, but they remain good Caipirinha-drinking buddies.)
Speaking of Caipirinhas, here is Cachaça Dave's advice for how to make a classic one:
1. Take one fresh lime and cut off the ends. Then cut the lime in half and cut one of the halves into four chunks.
2. Place those four lime chunks in a heavy rocks glass.
3. Add 2 bar spoons of superfine sugar.
4. Muddle until the sugar dissolves.
5. Add ice cubes to fill the glass.
6. Add 1.5 ounces of Mãe De Ouro and stir. (Note: Catania says, "When you stir, you really want to frappe it by stirring vigorously with an upward motion. However, you can also pour it back and forth several times to mix well.")
7. Enjoy!
Stay tuned for Cachaça Love, Part Two, tomorrow (first thing, by the way, in case your Friday siesta blurs into the weekend).
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I am a colleague of "Cachaca Dave" and think what he is doing to raise awareness of cachaca in the US is great.
I would like to make one correction...I am partners in Cuca Fresca Premium Cachaca and we are also 100% estate-bottled. Additionally, we are made with organic grown sugarcane.
Our Cuca Fresca Premium Cachaca and Pura Gold were the highest rated unaged and wood-aged cachacas in the Beverage Testing Institute's most recent International Spirits Review, with scores of 90 Point and 92 Points respectively.
Our Cuca Fresca Premium Cachaca also won a Double Gold Medal at the 2008 San Francisco World Spirits Competition.
Posted by: PKR | July 17, 2008 at 05:56 PM