It’s hard to believe, especially since I’ve been so delinquent in my duties lately, that I’ve been writing about cachaça for more than two years now. When I started this journey, there were a few things motivating me.
First, I wanted to learn more about Brazil. Living in a different country can be disorienting when you’re not grounded in history and culture. Not sharing what natives share means that you’re always looking in from the outside.
Second, I wanted to visit places I might never have otherwise had a chance to visit. I have, of course, been fortunate enough wonderful places since I’ve lived here. But visiting distilleries is something different.
Third, I wanted to meet new people. I haven’t been an out-going person in a while. Not because I don’t want to be, but because I’ve had other things occupying my mind. But meeting people who aren’t directly in my possible circle of friends, creating my own friends-circle was important to me.
When I started, I really didn’t know much about any distilled spirits. I really was a beer guy. I largely kept spirits at a distance because they somehow seemed caustic to me. There was simply no way, I believed, that I would ever return to consuming distilled spirits in my lifetime. Again, this was before I started writing.
But the more I explored, the more I realized just how much cachaça means, not only as a product, but as an expression of cultural. My motivations for exploring cachaça didn’t change, exactly. The list of motivations merely became longer.
Cachaca is a sensory experience. It’s about sight, smell and taste. And each expression either connects to a past memory or creates a new experience.
Cachaca is about tradition and experimentation; it’s a combination of the new and old; it’s a celebration of life. In other words, it’s a perfect representation of Brazil.
Cachaça is at once a very personal, yet at the same time bigger than any individual. It’s a universe unto itself, where the only limit is the distiller’s imagination.
There are a lot of exciting things coming in the next couple of months, so keep checking out Cachaça for Gringos on Instagram and Facebook, as well as on cachacaforgringos.com.
Cheers!