CACHAÇA - THE BRAZILIAN FIREWATER

Cachaça is a popular Brazilian alcoholic spirit distilled from fermented sugarcane juice also known by other names such as: Pinga, from the Portuguese verb pingar ("to drop");  Água-que-passarinho-não-bebe ("water that birds won't drink");  Aguardente, "burning (or flaming) water", aguardente used to be its formal name and it is still used for industrialised cachaças;  Manguaça; Cangibrina; Marvada, Maldita.

In fact to make sure of cachaça's Brazilianness,
the Brazilian government act no. 4851 states what constitutes and differentiates cachaça,rum, sugarcane spirit and other alcoholic beverages. According to Article No.92 of the act: Cachaça is the name given to sugarcane spirit produced in Brazil with an alcoholic percentage of between 38% and 48% at 20 degrees celsius, obtained from the distillation of fermented sugarcane juice, with the addition of up to six grams per liter of sweetener substances expressed in sucrose.

So there you have it, determined by law that cachaça is Brazilian! Probably the most famous Brazilian drink that incorporates cachaça as well as other ingredients that Brazil has an abundance of, is the caipirinha: cachaça, lime juice, sugar and ice, plenty of ice to counteract the tropical Brazilian heat.

An interesting fact to note is that cachaça became so popular in the 17th century, that it was threatening the importation of Portuguese wine. Alleging that the consumption of the Brazilian spirit was responsible for declining gold production, the Portuguese royalty thus prohibited a number of times from 1635, the production, commercialization and even the consumption of cachaça.
Unable to prohibit the locals desire for the precious liquid, the Portuguese rulers began to heavily tax the spirit.
Thus it can be said that the sugarcane spirit became a symbol of resistance to Portuguese rule. The first well noted revolt against the abusive Portuguese rule came in 1789 with the  "Inconfidencia"  in the state of Minas Gerais which is still to this day one of the premier regions for fine cachaças.