Brazilian Spirits Recommendation

[Enoch]

My next door neighbor is in Rio this week. Any recommendations of unique spirits for him to bring back.

[Alphanumeric]

The Brazilian national spirit is cachaça. Wikipedia will provide you a better idea than I, however it is essentially a "greener" (sugar cane juice vs. molasses) form of rum. Think grassier agricole. Stateside, I believe 51 and Ypioca are the only two commonly available. I've got a bottle of Maria da Cruz which is good-but-not-great.

Beside that, perhaps he might be able to find some nice pisco (South American but not Brazilian).

[bllygthrd]

Ahhh ... Brasil, my favorite country to visit! Traveled there 2-3 times per year between 1990 and 2003.

Cachaça is commonly referred to as pinga (at least with the Brazilians I hung with) and a Caipirinha the drink of choice (a daiquiri like cocktail).

Honestly, it would be nice to have a bottle of Brazilian pinga ... but I wouldn't dink it anymore than a I do rum (which is very little).

The food on the other hand .... outstanding!!

[Max Power]

Caipiriniha is more like a mojito than anything else. Lime, sugar, cachaca, ice...no mint. It's delicious.

[tanstaafl2]

In Brazil you may find aged cachaça which is more difficult to find in the US. There appear to be "industrial" versus "artisian" styles. As Max noted Wiki list a number of brands and I have been told to look for ones from smaller producers that are pot stilled as opposed to the big producers like 51 and Ypioca which are regularly available in the US, at least here in Atlanta. It seems to really have taken off of late locally.

Minas Gerais is the region usually people who know a bit about it suggest as one of the best areas but I have no personal experience. Leblon is also available locally from that area but it still seems to be a pretty big producer and not all that "artisinal". I have tried a few but have no favorite at the moment.

I have seen some great reviews of aged cachaça but rarely see anything very old (more than 2 years) in the US. I see some being sold in the UK. This article from last summer suggests more aged cachaça may be on its way to the US though.