At the beginning of the colonization of Brazil, from 1530 onwards, sugar production appeared as the first major exploration venture. After all, the Portuguese already dominated the process of planting and processing sugarcane – already carried out in the Atlantic islands – and still had the weather conditions that favored the installation of large production units in coastal regions in the territory.
In order for all this work to be carried out, the Portuguese ended up opting for the use of African slave labor. Among other reasons, colonizers noted that African slaves were adapted to compulsory labor, they had greater difficulties in making escapes and generated a profit for the Crown on account of the taxes levied on the slave trade.
In the sugar manufacturing process, the slaves harvested the cane and, after crushing the stalks, cooked the juice in huge pots until it turned into molasses. In this cooking process, a thicker broth was produced, called cagaça, which was commonly served together with the leftovers of the cane for the animals.
This habit caused the cagaça to ferment with the action of time and climate, producing a fermented liquid with a high alcohol content. In this way, we can very well believe that it was the pack and pasture animals that tasted our cachaça first. One day, most likely, a slave made the discovery by experimenting with that liquid that accumulated in the animals' lame.
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Another hypothesis is that, once, the slaves mixed an old and fermented molasses with a molasses made the following day. In this mixture, they ended up causing the alcohol present in the old molasses to evaporate and form droplets on the roof of the mill. As the liquid dripped on their heads and went to the direction of their mouths, the slaves tried the drink that would be called “drip”.
In this same situation, the cachaça that dripped from the ceiling fully hit the wounds that the slaves had on their backs, due to the physical punishment they suffered. The burning sensation caused by the contact between wounds and cachaça would have given the name “aguardente” to this same sugar cane derivative. This would be the explanation for the discovery of this typically Brazilian drink.
Initially, the pinga was described in some accounts from the 16th century as a kind of “cane wine” only consumed by slaves and natives. However, as the popularization of the drink took place, the colonizers began to substitute the expensive drinks imported from Europe for the consumption of the popular and accessible cachaça. Currently, this distilled beverage is exported to several places around the world.
By Rainer Sousa
Master in History
Brazil School Team
Curiosities - Brazil School
Would you like to reference this text in a school or academic work? Look:
SOUSA, Rainer Gonçalves. "The origin of cachaça"; Brazil School. Available in: https://brasilescola.uol.com.br/curiosidades/a-origem-cachaca.htm. Accessed on June 27, 2021.
