Abelha Organic Cachaca Silver, 70 cl

Product Information

Like rum, cachaça comes in two varieties; unaged (white) and aged (gold). White cachaça is usually bottled immediately after distillation and tends to be cheaper (some producers age it for up to 12 months in wooden barrels to achieve a smoother blend). It is often used to prepare caipirinha and other beverages in which cachaça is an ingredient. Dark cachaça, usually seen as the "premium" variety, is aged in wood barrels and is meant to be drunk straight (it is usually aged for up to 3 years though some "ultra premium" cachaças have been aged for up to 15 years). Its flavour is influenced by the type of wood the barrel is made from. Abelha Cachaça is produced high up on infertile sandy soils surrounding Rio de Contas on the southern edge of the Chapada Diamantina. It is not as hot as sugar-cane producing regions of south Brazil but the temperature differential between night and day is greater. Both the soil conditions and this temperature differential contribute to the flavour and quality of the sugar cane that is used to produce cachaça in this region. Ananda is one of the emerging names in Brazilian street art worldwide. She was named by CNN Style as one of the top upcoming Brazilian female urban artists to watch and one of 6 amazing artists redefining Brazil’s art and design. Now that we’ve had our Cachaça 101 course, what about this Abelha Organic Cachaça? It’s a gold cachaça, a lovely straw/gold colour, from having been aged in Brazilian ash barrels for three years. It’s produced in the state of Bahia with the sugarcane being sourced from several small, local, organic farmers. It’s distilled in small batches in pot stills. Ananda Nahu was born in Juazeiro, in Bahia, Brazil, in 1985. She moved to Salvador in 2001, in 2003 she attended The College of Design and in 2004 attended the Fine Arts School at the Federal University of Bahia. During this period, she became interested in studying photography, Fine Arts Paintings and engravings, inspired by studies and research of lithography, Serigraphs, metal engraving, and consequently a deeper study of posters, the main references for engraving techniques.

It doesn’t really do all the much as a sipper it’s just a bit boozy and a bit grassy and the overall experience is pretty short. There isn’t much of a finish to speak about or any really development as you sip. You get a bit of a burn then some brief notes of sugar cane. A touch of dark fruits but it isn’t very long lasting. To start with what it is not, it is not Brazilian rum. Cachaça predates the making of rum in the Caribbean by at least 100 years. It is made from fermented sugarcane juice, as some rums are, so it does bear some similarities, but it is a drink in a category all of its own. Abelha Cachaça Silver is a premium hand-crafted white cachaça with an intense fruity/vegetal nose, fresh sugar cane and stone fruits taste with a smooth, dry finish. artisanal cachaça uses locally grown sugarcane that can be assessed for quality and sugar content prior to harvest and use. Industrial stills will use mass produced and harvested sugarcane.By 1660, cachaça had become so popular that its consumption surpassed that of Portuguese bagaceira, a kind of distilled wine. Upset by the fact that the colonies preferred cachaça, Portugal responded by imposing a heavy tax on Brazilian distilleries, who promptly revolted in an event now known as ‘The Cachaça Rebellion’. Cachaça is Brazil’s national spirit, and although it is one of the most-consumed spirits in the world (there are about 40,000 distilleries producing it in Brazil), it’s much less well-known internationally. Abelha is a Brazilian cachaca that got its start in 2009, but which is only just now making its way into U.S. distribution. (It’s currently available in a handful of states in the northeast but has national availability online.) The organic, pot-distilled cachaca is available in two expressions, a standard silver and an ouro which is aged for three years in 65-gallon garapeira casks, made from Brazilian ash wood. Abelha has no added sugar or additives of any kind. The cachaça is organically certified in both the growing of the sugar cane and the distillation process at international standards. Only natural fertilizer is used, with no pesticides.

The spirit cachaça combines two very different beasts; artisanal cachaça and industrial cachaça. There are colossal differences between the two types of cachaca which result in an unmistakeable contrast in aroma, body and taste. As Abelha is an artisanal cachaça, we highlight some of the differences between these two production possibilities. Cachaça, the national drink of Brazil, embodying all the spirit, excitement and flare of the party nation. The proliferation of South & Central American spirits, along with more home bartenders experimenting with different types of spirits, makes this an ideal time to introduce Abelha Organic Cachaça to the States. The interest in organic spirits also continues to grow, as well as the move to make cachaça a distinct spirit category in the U.S. Marcos, Abelha’s Master Distiller, explains, “The main difference between industrial and artisanal cachaça is the distillation process; industrial cachaças are produced in a column still via continuous distillation; no separation between the beginning and end of the distillation. Artisanal cachaças are produced in alambique, (copper-pot still) which allows separation to improve the composition, body and flavour of the resulting cachaça”.The second ‘c’ in cachaça has a cedilla accent under it, which softens the sound, so the word is pronounced ‘ka-sha-sah’. How is Cachaça Produced? Abelha Gold is aged in Garapeira wood, from South of Brazil. Tell us more about this native wood and its use in Brazil. Abelha Prata, the silver expression, is a full-flavored artisanal cachaça, with an intense, fruity, aromatic nose, fresh sugar cane and stone fruits on the palate, and a smooth dry finish. To create the distinctive character of Abelha Prata, the cachaça is rested for 6 months in open steel tanks, allowing the by-products to evaporate and oxidize, which gives the cachaça its signature bouquet. No sugar is added, and there are no impurities or toxins in the cachaça, resulting in fresh aromas when you open a bottle and pure flavors when you take a sip. We have really good news for Abelha Cachaça lovers all over: due to many requests to extend the deadline date of our arts competition, we’ve decided to give creatives minds some extra time to send their design to us: deadline is now 21st March 2016 and we can’t wait to see all you’ve come up to! Abelha Organic Silver Cachaca Despite attempts by some of the biggest players in the Drinks Industry cachaca remains very much a domestic product. There are thousands of cachaca brands available in Brasil. Only a very small portion of those brands even see the light of day outside Brasil.