Cachaca 51 Premium Brasil Spirit 70 cl 40%

Walk into a bar in São Paulo and ask for a Caipirinha, and nobody asks which cachaca you want. The bottle is already standing there. It has been standing there for decades, with the same red number on the label and the same green smell of freshly pressed cane.

The expert's description

Cachaca 51 Premium Brasil Spirit is an unaged Cachaca column distilled from freshly pressed sugarcane juice at Companhia Müller de Bebidas and bottled at 40%.

The distillery sits in Pirassununga in the state of São Paulo, a couple of hours inland from the coast, and since 1959 the company has built the brand into the best-selling one in Brazil. A second plant at Cabo de Santo Agostinho in Pernambuco covers the north of the country. Continuous column distillation is what makes that scale possible, and it is also what gives 51 its even, predictable profile from bottle to bottle.

Brazilian law is precise about what cachaca is: fermented and distilled sugarcane juice, bottled between 38 and 48 percent. The requirement for juice, rather than for molasses out of the sugar refinery, is the actual border with rum. It is why 51 tastes of the field and not of syrup, even though both drinks trace back to the same plant.

51 is a branca, a clear cachaca with no time in wood. No vanilla, no colour, no cask spice getting in the way. What it offers instead is a softer, less peppery distillate than many other unaged cachacas, and that is exactly why it ended up as the default behind the bar, where the lime and the sugar need room of their own.

Tasting notes

Nose

Cane juice and cut grass, with a trace of ripe banana behind it. The alcohol prickles only slightly and there are no sharp edges.

Palate

Soft and lightly sweet. The cane sits in the middle of the tongue with a green, juicy tone, and a thin floral note rises before the alcohol gives one short jab.

Finish

Short and clean. A light herbal tone hangs on for a moment and then the mouth is clear again. That is precisely the sort of finish a drink built on lime wants.

Specifications

Name: Cachaca 51 Premium Brasil Spirit 70 cl 40%
Distillery: Companhia Müller de Bebidas
Region/Country: Pirassununga, São Paulo, Brazil
Type: Cachaca
ABV: 40%
Size: 70 CL
Distillation method: Column distilled from freshly pressed sugarcane juice
Serving suggestion: In a Caipirinha with lime and cane sugar, or in a Rabo de Galo with red vermouth

Flavour profile

Green · Sugarcane · Soft · Lightly sweet · Clean

Did you know?

Roughly one in three bottles of cachaca sold in Brazil is a 51. In the state of São Paulo alone the brand accounts for more than half of everything drunk, and the bottle has reached more than fifty countries.

See our full range of Cachaca

Frequently asked questions about Cachaca 51 Premium Brasil Spirit 70 cl 40%

What does Cachaca 51 taste like?

Green cane juice, cut grass and a light sweetness. It is softer and less peppery than many other clear cachacas, and the finish is short and clean. That makes it easy to build drinks on.

Is Cachaca 51 aged in wood?

No, it is a branca and goes from the still straight towards bottling. That is why it is completely clear in the glass and carries no vanilla or caramel, exactly like an unaged white Rum. All of the flavour comes from the cane and from fermentation.

Why is 51 the default choice behind the bar in Brazil?

Because the profile is soft and consistent from bottle to bottle. Large-scale column distillation produces a spirit that tastes the same all year, and a Caipirinha really ought to taste the way it did last time. On top of that the brand is stocked almost everywhere in the country.

Which lime and which sugar make the best Caipirinha?

Ordinary green limes and a coarse cane sugar. Muddle the lime gently rather than to a pulp, because the white pith releases bitterness once it is ground down. Cane sugar dissolves more slowly than caster sugar and lends the drink a little more body.

What can be made besides a Caipirinha?

Rabo de Galo is the most Brazilian of them all, a plain mix of cachaca and red vermouth served in a small glass. Passion fruit, pineapple and mango all work too, and a Caipirinha built on ripe mango instead of lime is common in Brazil.

Should Cachaca 51 be served cold?

Cool, but not ice cold. An hour in the fridge is enough to pull it together, whereas the freezer shuts the green cane note down. If it is going into a Caipirinha, the ice handles the rest of the job on its own.