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       Historically, cachaça is directly linked to the introduction of sugarcane and the production of sugar in Brazil during the mid- 1500s. The slaves who were working at the sugar mills discovered that the garapa, the cooked sugarcane juice that was left standing, would ferment, turning into an alcoholic beverage. Apparently in the beginning, the beverage was given only to slaves at the end of their workday, but soon it became a popular drink consumed by all types of people. With the increase of demand, cachaça distilleries proliferated, and cachaça turned into the favorite alcoholic drink of the whole colony, becoming a threat to bagaceira, a Portuguese brandy made with grapes. As a consequence, during the gold rush, the consumption of cachaça was such that a royal court order of 1743 prohibited the distilleries in all Minas Gerais, probably starting cachaça’s first steps on its long social underground history. (Only in the 1990s did cachaça exit this social stigma to gain status and national and then international recognition.)

      With the excuse of producing sugar, people continued to secretly produce cachaça, which prompted the court to attach high taxation on the Brazilian beverage.

      Later, during the first movements for independence, cachaça was converted to a political statement when Brazilians served it instead of Porto wine during important receptions.

(Roberts, Yara Castro & Richard Roberts. 2009. The Brazilian Table. Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith., p. 29)