Cachaca (pron: Kah-shah-sah) is a Brazilian drink made from sugar cane. Therefore, it is classified as a rum in many liquor stores. But the drink tastes very differently from rum. It comes in two varieties, silver and gold.

Traditionally, cachaca has been used almost solely to make caipirinhas, a traditional Brazilian cocktail, although some people will drink it pure from small shot glasses. Some of the most traditional brands found in the U.S are Velho Barreiro and Caninha 51. Ypioca can be found at certain stores.

During the 1990s Brazilians rediscovered cachaca, usually deemed as a low brow drink with only one purpose: caipirinha making. As a result, many high end cachacerias have sprouted in the country, elevating the art of cachaca making. This has created an explosion of cachaca brands. One of these new brands, Leblon, can be found in the U.S. in many specialty stores.

Note: The third "c" on cachaca should be what is Portuguese is called a "c-cedilha," which is a letter c with a small tail. This letter is also found in French. In Portuguese, the c-cedilha has a "s" attribute. Thus, the last syllable of the word is pronounced "sah." Sadly, WetPaint is not recognizing this character.