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May 09, 2005
drunk on cachaça
or at least I think that the Wine Enthusiast cachaça reviewer in the May 2005 issue must have been.
For those of you unfamiliar with cachaça, like me, Joe says it tastes like a mix of vodka and tequila. It's sugarcane liquor from Brazil.
Anyway, I was checking out Joe's latest issue and got to the cachaça reviews. Here's one of particular interest:
Beleza Pura Super Premium Cachaça (Brazil, Excalibur Imports, New York, NY) 40% abv, $28. An amazing experience of aromatic waves of beans, then raw sugar cane, burning tires, black pepper, hemp, steamed asparagus, celery salt, and tar. Taste strongly of ash, soot and burning rubber at palate entry; at midpalate, a sly sweetness acts as a foundation for smoke and tar. Finishes semisweet and smooth. Best Buy.
Mmm sounds appetizing, huh? In general cachaça seems to smell or taste like pickle brine, cat-pee, escarole soup, fried egg, meringue (I didn't even know meringue smelled!), clam sauce, prickly pear, creosote, paint thinner, and stone. I'm not sure what it means that this is one of Brazil's favorite drinks.
I think it is, however, an excellent example of how loaded and overblown that wine and spirits terminology can be. Joe is always moaning about them but now I understand why. He knows one of the senior editors at the Enthusiast and is ready to give her a wonderfully bad time when they speak next. :)
Posted by crystallyn at May 9, 2005 07:41 PM