| DRINKS Bebidas |
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| Cachaça
The Brazilians produce about 2 billion liters of this rum per year ! Actually it is not the same as rum. Cachaça is distilled from fermented sugar cane juice and not from molasse, a byproduct of sugar cane processes. Cachaça is also called caninha, pinga and aquardente and there are hundred other names in the Brazilian dictionary. The drink originates from the northeast of Brasil. It gives a perfect mix with exotic fruits and sunny weather. Best known brands: 51, Pitu, Velho Barreiro.
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Caipirinha Caipirinha is a lethal mix of cachaça, lime parts crushed in a glass with brown sugar and crushed ice. If you trust your barkeeper, try to get the Caipirinha shaken, not in a shaker but with two longdrink glasses, for a real explosion of taste. Try to find the 'golden' cachaça which has matured in wooden barrels. These tanned cachaças make your Caipirinha more soave. Most famous is Ypioca. The best cachaça is produced on country farms; it is called cachaça da terra, and has a smoothness and taste the commercially produced brands lack. |
Brazilians
prefer the Caipirovka, made with Vodka, because it is kinder to your throat, and more
chique. Caipirissima is made with rum, a wrong choice. Caipirita is with Tequila.
Caipirango is made with morangos (strawberries) in stead of lime. The little sachets with Caipirinha powder that you see in supermarkets are a substitute for the lemon and sugar. It is not so bad as you would expect.
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| Sucos
are available on every Brazilian streetcorner. The suco-bars use fresh fruit as much as
available or use little bags with frozen fruitpulp (you can find these bags of 'polpa' in
supermarkets). The fruit juice or pulp is put in a blender with ice. A holiday in Brasil
would not be the same without these. Although you thought you tried them all, every trip
to Brasil you will discover new fruits. Abacaxí, Limão,Caqui, Jambo, Maracujá, Pêra, Abacate, Carambola, Jenipapo, Pêssego, Açaí, Cenoura, Kiwi, Graviola, Pitanga, Acerola, Cereja, Laranja, Sapoti, Ameixa, Coco, Limonada Suíça, Seringuela, Amora, Cupuaçu, Maçã, Tamarindo, Araçá, Damasco, Manga, Tangerina, Bacuri, Figo, Mangaba, Taperebá, Banana, Framboesa, Maracujá, Tomate, Beterraba, Fruta do Conde, Melância, Umbu, Cacau, Sapoti, Goiaba, Melão, Uva, Cajá, Graviola, Cajú, Jabuticaba, Morango, Camu, Jaca, Murici. |
Most lanchonetes and
bars sell sucos and vitaminas, but for the full variety you should visit a
specialist ´casa de sucos´, which are found in most town centres. Widely available, and
the best option to quench a thirst, are suco de maracujá (passion fruit) and suco
de limão (lime). In the North and Northeast, try graviola, bacuri and cupuaçu.
Sugar will always to be added to a suco unless you ask for it sem açúcar;
some, notably maracujá and limão, are undrinkable without. Some of the
fruit is familiar - manga, mango; maracujá, passion fruit; limão,
lime - but most of it has only Brazilian names: jabuticaba, fruta do conde, sapoti
and jaca. The most exotic fruits are Amazonian: try bacuri, açaí
and the extraordinary cupuaçu. The acaí and the acerola berries contain much vitamins. |
Vitamina Fruit juice mixed with milk is called a Vitamina. Limonada Suiça is the result of putting complete limes in the blender. These all serve as the basis for juices and ice cream, Sorvete, which can be excellent; keep an eye out for sorvetarias, ice-cream parlours. Very popular as a breakfast on a hot beach is acaí. Frozen pulp from deep purple berries from the north of Brasil, served in a bowl.
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| Cerveja Beer is the national beverage. Brazilians want it icecold, with a little ice in the bottle or tin. Chopp is draft beer, but this is rare in Brasil. The 3 most famous brands are now joined in the company called AmBev: Skol, Brahma and Antarctica. Another brand, Cerpa, produces alcohol free beer. Kaiser is another well known brand. Many state have local brands. These beers have a lighter taste than European beers, better in a hot climate.
The Brazilian man does not need a special occasion to invite friends and collegues for a churrasco (barbeque) at home. On the way home he will pick up some good beef and drive to the local beer supplier, who stores beer in freezers. There he will see for the coldest beer and throw some crates in his pick-up. At home the meet is cut and 'temperado' with see-salt, lemon and garlic. Meanwhile the beer is consumed so fast that the evening sun has no time to warm the beer. |
Batidas are cachaça-based mixes made with various flavors such as
fruits, coconut or even chocolate. Sometimes with honey and condensed milk. All together mixed in a blender.
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| Coconut
juice Make sure the coconut is cold. Also refreshing is fresh sugar cane juice. The juice is pressed from the sugar cane with a handpress. |
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| Soft
drinks / Refrigerante Picture: Waiting to unload Coke-Cola in the centre of Belo Horizonte Brasil is the world's
third-largest soft-drink market (after the U.S. and Mexico) and has some unique soft
drinks to choose from.
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Chá Mate: One highly recommended way to take tea is using the chimarrão, very common in southern Brazil: a gourd filled with chá mate and boiling water, sucked through a silver straw. It needs some practice to avoid burning your lips, but once you get used to it is a wonderfully refreshing way to take tea. |
| Wine Mostly mediocre and sweet, though some of the wines produced in the South aren't too bad. In the Italian areas of Rio Grande do Sul, try the small farmers' own wines - very different from European and US wines but excellent in their own right. Good wines are available in Rio's and São Paulo's best hotels and restaurants. Perfectly drinkable wine is also produced in Santa Catarina and in Paraná, while the wine from Espirito Santo, Minas Gerais and São Paulo is pretty dreadful, produced purely for regional consumption. An up-and-coming area for the production of wine is the Bahia-Pernambuco border, despite the region's proximity to the equator. Imported wines from Chile and Argentina (or Europe) are generally better and often cheaper than what Brazil produces. Tinto is red, branco is white, and rosé is rosé; dry wines are referred to as seco, sweet wines as suave. |
http://www.brasembottawa.org/ http://www.winesfrombrazil.com/ http://www.xs4all.nl/~verbeek9/ http://www.mfumaca.com.br/ http://64.27.114.226/wine/ http://www.academiadovinho.com.br/ http://www.vinhosnet.com.br/ http://www.vinhosdobrasil.hpg.ig.com.br/ http://basilico.uol.com.br/ winemakers:
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Award winning winemakers of
Brasil Bebidas Da Serra Ltda Vinhos Salton SIA Com Cooperativa Vinicola Aurora LTDA Luiz Valduga e Filhos LTDA Sociedide de Bebidas Panizzon Ltda Vinicola Miolo Ltda |
| Coffee is the great national drink, served strong, hot and sweet in small cups and drunk quickly. However, coffee is often a great disappointment in Brazil: most of the good stuff goes for export, and it often comes so stiff with sugar that it's almost undrinkable. By far the best coffee is found in São Paulo and points south. You are never far from a cafézinho (as these small cups of coffee are known; café refers to coffee in its raw state). Coffee is sold from flasks in the street, in lanchonetes and bars, and in restaurants, where it comes free after the meal. The best way to start your day is with café com leite, hot milk with coffee added to taste. |
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Picture: unloading
beer from the boat at the island Morro de São Paolo.
