From the first episode, I was hooked. It was late into the night, after midnight, but Anthony Bourdain was gracing my television from Ireland. He talked of the food, the culture, and the people. He talked of how Dublin was growing, and dined with famous chefs. Wanting nothing more than to find amazing food and understand famous chefs better – I couldn’t stop watching. Then in 2007 Anthony Bourdain visited São Paulo on No Reservations, and I learned about cachaça and the beautiful Caipirinha.
Cachaça is a liquor distilled from raw fermented sugarcane juice liquor from Brazil. This differs from rum, in that rum can be produced from molasses or other sugar by products. While it possible to make rum from raw sugarcane juice, such as a rhum agricole, it’s not possible to produce Cachaça from molasses. At one point in it’s history, cachaça was also labeled as Brazilian Rum, but don’t be confused. Compared to traditional rums, cachaça is far closer to a rhum agricole (think more grassy / earthy) than anything you’ll see from Bacardi or Captain Morgan. (To point out how different cachaça really is: When I finally got my hands on a bottle in my younger days, I compared it like a novice to a bastard child of white rum and tequila)
Just like rum, cachaça breaks down into 2 categories, silver (sometimes blanco or white) and gold (or ouro / amarela). Just like rum, silver cachaça is usually bottled immediately, where as the gold are aged (sometimes in native wood). While there are many producers of cachaça in Brazil, finding cachaça in the US can still be a challenge. Among those you might see is Novo Fogo Silver Cachaça
Novo Fogo Silver Cachaça
Sight: Essentially colorless.
Smell: A funky mix of fermented sugar cane juice and ethanol float out of the ether mixing with a grassy note. Touches of pithy citrus, green banana and raw sugar come through.
Sip: A medium weight with a slightly woodsy-grassy like start. A fermented sugar flavor with hints of plantain, tropical fruit, and pepper comes through next while touches of salinity and coconut water lining the background.
Savor: The finish lingers with a sugarcane and woodsy-cask like note. The finish lingers giving a touch of the fermented sugar flavor and plantain chip like flavor.
Novo Fogo Silver Cachaça is a clean, straightforward representation that can function like a workhorse in a cocktail. The sugar cane notes have a hint of tropical to them, and the mild salinity accentuates the flavor. With no oak aging, the spirit is allowed to shine – and you’ll find little trace of vanilla here.
In Caipirinhas
As a result of only being rested in stainless steel Novo Fogo Silver Cachaça ends up being on the savory side of thing. Plantain chips and earthy vegetal notes come forward complimenting the limes. The herbal character crosses with the lime to create a complexity reminiscent of pastis or chartreuse. There’s a balanced sweetness to compliment the savory notes and it lingers in an green, grassy, salinic way. Touches of mushroom flirt around the edges.
While it’s certainly interesting, those predisposed to tropical or vanilla flavors may not find that this is the bottle they reach for. That said, it’s certainly tasty, if not our number one cachaça.
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