Woods Used For Aging Cachaça
Cachaça is aged in different types of wood barrels and this variety of storage plays a significant role in adding flavor to alcoholic beverages. While in other traditional distillates, aging is concentrated in oak, european and american, Cachaça has shown to the world a wide variety of native woods providing enormous sensory richness, quality, colors and distinguished aromas.
For a long time, most of the barrels made of wood served much more for transporting beverages than as a means of aging. However, since Louis Pasteur published his striking discoveries of single-cell pure yeast isolation, his research certainly helped in the applicability of numerous alcoholic beverages and allowed the evolution of aging into wooden barrels adding sensory characteristics beyond quality not previously perceived.
news about cachaça ? Oak has always been the flagship of distillate aging. Even with cachaca, this aspect was also reflected considerably. Research points out that oak represents a proportion of about 45% of the wood chosen for Cachaça. What would be the reason for that? One of the main ones is a lack of a proper industry of wood barrels in Brazil. This fact facilitated the whole process of development oak production just importing that wood.
However, there are also different Brazilian woods that can do very well this process. As far as researchs have been point out, around 60% of the aroma from an aged beverage comes from the wood in which it rested. Is a practice that modifies chemical characteristics adding sensory quality to the drink. as we can see below some of the most important woods.
Below we have some great examples:
French Oak (Quercus petraea) It has French origin and refers to accented fruity aromas and it transfers a dark yellowish hue and besides a drier flavor and flavors characteristic of almonds, toasted wood, and tannins. American oak (Quercus alba): It has American origin used a lot for the aging of bourbons and also know as white oak. The cachaça aged in American oak has a golden color, distinctive aromas of vanilla and coconut.
Jequitibá Wood (Cariniana estrellensis) : Brazilian Origin has as characteristic to soften the acidity without changing without altering the color and the aromas and eliminates the faint taste of sugarcane bagasse The Jequitibá imparts golden color, pleasant flavors, and a complex aroma. Amburana Wood (Amburana cearensis) : Present in large scale in Brazil. Its main characteristics are to reduce acidity and decrease the alcohol content, resulting in more flavor and softness with distinct characteristic bouquet with notes of vanilla, briefly sweet. Balsam (Miroxylom peruiferum): Brazilian wood and can be found from southern Bahia to Rio Grande do Sul. (States). A strongly aromatic wood, it interferes a lot with the original characteristics of the cachaça. In general it presents greenish-yellow coloration with very intense herbaceous aroma and anise and dried fruit. Amendoim Bravo (Pterogyne Nitens): Hard wood, it lowers the acidity and alcohol content of the drink, giving it practically no color, fruity aromas and white flavors and gives the cachaça versatile applicability for cocktails,
Castanheira (Bertholletia Excelsa): Very resistant wood, its aroma and its flavor are very smooth, although it produces the Brazil nut, rich in oils and proteins. Hard and heavy, it is much used in luxury joinery. It refers to fruity notes, with vanilla aroma, dark yellow tone and intense wood flavor. Freijo: (Cordia alliodora): Native to the American tropics, cerne and sapwood distinguished by color, brownish-yellowish brown, It results in a cachaça with yellowish color, and slightly bitter, medium body and mild acidity. Ipê (Tabebuia chrysotricha): guarantees a cachaça, orange and strong tone, and minor acidity. It imparts aromas and flavors well woody, remembering nuts, almonds and nuts.
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