Cachaça

Outside of Brazil (where it is the best-selling spirit), cachaça is best known for its starring role in the caipirinha—a simple three-ingredient, lime-infused cocktail. Rum drinkers will find cachaça to have a familiar taste. Both are distilled from sugarcane, but cachaça is made from fresh cane juice, while rum is usually produced from molasses (which is cooked). The difference gives cachaça more vegetal, herbal notes than what you might find in other spirits. Use Food & Wine's guide to find great cocktail recipes that call for cachaça, plus recommendations for our favorite bottles.