Updated on April 7, 2012
When the first sugarcane plants were introduced in Brazil by Portuguese colonizers in the early 16th century, brought from Madeira Island, the creation of a genuinely Brazilian drink would soon follow.
Yet, though the origins of cachaça date back to the Sugarcane Cycle (16th to 18th century) and the manufacturing processes taking place at the oldest engenhos, or sugarcane plantations and mills; though production is intrinsically intertwined with Brazil history and the formation of a national identity, cachaça tourism has only recently begun to take shape as a trend in Brazil travel.
The potential for development is enormous - according to IBRAC, the Brazilian Cachaça Institute (www.ibrac.net), Brazil has 40,000 cachaça producers, 99% of them micro-companies. Many of those are located in the same regions where African and Brazil-born slaves first distilled the drink at sugar mills - and developed a product which, tragically, would be used in triangular trade.
The industry has received a boost from an accord reached in Washington D.C. in April 2012 in which the US recognizes cachaça as a genuinely and exclusively Brazilian product - and Brazil recognizes Bourbon as authentically American. Discussions over cachaça had engaged both countries for about 40 years and intensified after 2000, when labels of cachaça sold in the US started having to bear the words "Brazilian Rum".
According to Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, the country's cachaça exports reached US$ 17.3 M, (US$ 1.8M to the US) in 2011. The term "cachaça" is to be used on all labels of the product and the use of the term by producers other than the genuinely Brazilian ones is now forbidden.
A deeper contact with Brazil's past, particularly its black history, and journeys through scenic destinations, such as Paraty, the Paraiba River Valley or the colonial towns of Minas Gerais, are some of the pluses of cachaça tourism besides the discovery of the drink's variegated flavors and textures.
Superb regional culinary is often part of the experience; some of the distilleries are on farms which also have restaurants, and most cachaçarias specialize in local dishes as well.
In view of the importance of cachaça in Brazil culture and economy - for example, in the generation of 600,000 jobs and exports to over 50 countries - IBRAC initiated a campaign to make September 13 National Cachaça Day. A bill sponsored by a Santa Catarina representative awaits voting in the Chamber of Deputies.
September 13 was chosen because on that day in 1661, an uprising put an end to a Portuguese royal decree which prohibited the production of the drink in the colony.
Trade shows such as Expocachaça play an important role in related business travel. In 2011, for the first time in its 15-year history, the Belo Horizonte event also had a São Paulo edition.
Most cachaça tours in Brazil are still do-it-yourself. Ask locally about agencies which might include these attractions on their tours.
A handful of museums in Brazil help tell the story of the national distilled drink. Besides museums at farms and parks in the cachaça tours mentioned above, here are some of the places to visit:
When the first sugarcane plants were introduced in Brazil by Portuguese colonizers in the early 16th century, brought from Madeira Island, the creation of a genuinely Brazilian drink would soon follow.
Yet, though the origins of cachaça date back to the Sugarcane Cycle (16th to 18th century) and the manufacturing processes taking place at the oldest engenhos, or sugarcane plantations and mills; though production is intrinsically intertwined with Brazil history and the formation of a national identity, cachaça tourism has only recently begun to take shape as a trend in Brazil travel.
The potential for development is enormous - according to IBRAC, the Brazilian Cachaça Institute (www.ibrac.net), Brazil has 40,000 cachaça producers, 99% of them micro-companies. Many of those are located in the same regions where African and Brazil-born slaves first distilled the drink at sugar mills - and developed a product which, tragically, would be used in triangular trade.
The industry has received a boost from an accord reached in Washington D.C. in April 2012 in which the US recognizes cachaça as a genuinely and exclusively Brazilian product - and Brazil recognizes Bourbon as authentically American. Discussions over cachaça had engaged both countries for about 40 years and intensified after 2000, when labels of cachaça sold in the US started having to bear the words "Brazilian Rum".
According to Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, the country's cachaça exports reached US$ 17.3 M, (US$ 1.8M to the US) in 2011. The term "cachaça" is to be used on all labels of the product and the use of the term by producers other than the genuinely Brazilian ones is now forbidden.
An All-Brazilian Experience
A deeper contact with Brazil's past, particularly its black history, and journeys through scenic destinations, such as Paraty, the Paraiba River Valley or the colonial towns of Minas Gerais, are some of the pluses of cachaça tourism besides the discovery of the drink's variegated flavors and textures.
Superb regional culinary is often part of the experience; some of the distilleries are on farms which also have restaurants, and most cachaçarias specialize in local dishes as well.
In view of the importance of cachaça in Brazil culture and economy - for example, in the generation of 600,000 jobs and exports to over 50 countries - IBRAC initiated a campaign to make September 13 National Cachaça Day. A bill sponsored by a Santa Catarina representative awaits voting in the Chamber of Deputies.
September 13 was chosen because on that day in 1661, an uprising put an end to a Portuguese royal decree which prohibited the production of the drink in the colony.
Trade shows such as Expocachaça play an important role in related business travel. In 2011, for the first time in its 15-year history, the Belo Horizonte event also had a São Paulo edition.
Great Cachaça Tours in Brazil
Most cachaça tours in Brazil are still do-it-yourself. Ask locally about agencies which might include these attractions on their tours.
- Cachaçatur in Belo Horizonte
This recommended tour of bars, restaurants, stores and distilleries with a focus on handcrafted Minas Gerais was cachaça was launched on Sep.13, 2010. One of its highlights is Vale Verde Ecological Park, a distillery and ecopark in the BH Metroplex.
Cachaçatur
- Coffee, Cachaça and Chorinho
An annual, music-wrapped fall tour of alambiques and historic coffee farms in Rio de Janeiro's Coffee Valley.
- Fazenda Dona Carolina At this 19th farm-hotel less than 65 kilometers from São Paulo, the Day Use package includes a tour of the production steps leading up to Dona Carolina, their award-winning cachaça. There's a cachaçaria serving and selling other labels as well.
- Vale Verde Parque Ecológico
An ecopark and distillery near Belo Horizonte whose attractions include a cachaça museum.
- Cachaça Maria Izabel
Visit a distillery in Paraty, one of Brazil's historic cachaça-producing regions.
Cachaça Museums in Brazil
A handful of museums in Brazil help tell the story of the national distilled drink. Besides museums at farms and parks in the cachaça tours mentioned above, here are some of the places to visit:
- Cachaça Museum in Paty do Alferes
Generally acknowledged as Brazil's first cachaça museum, this attraction was created in 1991 by Íris Renan and her husband, the late Iale Renan. With over 2,000 labels and historical equipment on display, small-scale production of handcrafted cachaça and a tasting room, the museum is one of the top attractions in Paty do Alferes (pop. 26,359), a town in the Coffee Valley which is about 77 miles from Rio de Janeiro. Paty do Alferes is also home to Fazenda Monte Alegre, a stunning historical coffee farm, and Aldeia de Arcozelo, a former coffee farm which in 1838 was the site of the area's largest slave escape, led by Manoel Congo, and, in the 20th century, an artistic complex created by Paschoal Carlos Magno.
- Cachaça Museum in Maranguape
Located inside iPark, less than 20 miles from Fortaleza, this museum belongs to the Ypioca distillery and takes visitors through the company's history with a tour of production steps and the barrels used for aging as well as the farm's original kitchen with utensils dating back to the time when it was used by the Telles family, Ypioca founders. Among the other attractions at iPark is the Brazilian Northeast's longest zip line (260 meters, or about 853 feet).
- Museu da Cachaça at Engenho Santo Mario
In 1983, Mario Seghese, a descendant of Italian immigrants, purchased Fazenda Santo Mario and established Engenho Santo Mario in Catanduva, about 250 miles from the city of São Paulo, where he produces fine handcrafted cachaça and keeps a museum with about 5,000 bottles of the drink, plus a small collection of antiques.
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