Cachaça enjoys of an historical past starting in the XVI century, at the time of the colonisation, since from then on the sugar-cane has been grown. According to the tradition, the slaves of the plantations discovered the reinvigorating qualities of the sugar-cane fermented juice, so that shortly after the production of a strong alcoholic beverage was started. In the XVIII century this beverage, because of its large consumption, hindered the trade of the Portuguese wine and brandy. At the time being the sugar-cane is still produced on a large scale in different Brazilian states, where about 9,5 million tons of sugar are produced yearly. Even though the rum is the prince distillate rising from the sugar, cachaça has become the national Brazilian beverage, representing the essence of the art of drinking and joy of life in Brazil. Unlike the proceeding used for rum, in Brazil cachaça is produced by different production techniques. At first, both the pure cane-sugar, having an high contents of sugar, and the residues (the molasses) rising from the manufacturing of the sugar, are fermented by adding specific leavens generally directly produced in the distilleries. After the fermentation process is completed, they are distilled. The cachaça obtained in this way is put to rest in special wooden barrels until its unique flavour will be reached. Now cachaça is ready to be marketed, generally in the "white" version, i.e. not coloured with caramel and not aged (this would be the "black" version). Even if cachaça is the 3rd most consumed spirit in the world, 95,5% of the total consumption of cachaça still takes place in Brazil while only the 0,5% of the production is exported. Cachaça can be savoured neat, in cocktails, among which the famous and original caipirinha, a "must" in the trendy bars and clubs all over the world. Today in Brazil there are more than 4'000 different brands of cachaça and the product is known under dozens of names. [Most common names of Cachaça] [Mangaroca cachaça]