Cachaça
Workable
Cane to cane again, with one real difference: cachaça is distilled from fresh pressed juice and kokuto shochu from the sugar after it has been boiled down.
The strength problem
Cachaça is 38 to 48 percent. A caipirinha is one of the few classics where a 25 percent bottle genuinely survives, because the ice and the muddled lime were always going to do most of the work.
Kokuto shochu
Workable
Why it works
- A caipirinha is lime, sugar and a cane spirit, and kokuto shochu is a cane spirit. With the lime and sugar already doing the talking, the base has a smaller gap to cover than in a spirit forward drink.
- It is a long, iced, heavily diluted drink, so the lower strength costs less here than almost anywhere else on this page.
What changes in the glass
- The grassy, raw note of fresh cane juice is the signature of a good cachaça, and boiling the sugar first takes it away. Kokuto shochu is rounder and more molasses-like where cachaça is green.
- And the rice koji is here too, so there is a grain note underneath that no cane spirit carries.
Bottles that qualify28
Lento Kokuto ShochuPoured at JurakuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, GingerAmami Kokuto ShochuPoured at JurakuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami)Start with Ginger beer, GingerNankai White Oak ShochuPoured at JurakuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, CinnamonNankai Gold ShochuPoured at JurakuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, LimeAmami AgingKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonBlack Amami 25 degreesKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonBlack Amami 40 degreesKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonBlue OceanKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonJougo ShochuKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, LimeKanaKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, LemonKurenai Sango (Red Coral)Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Jasmine tea, CinnamonMankoi 30Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonNankai Shochu (Original)Kokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, CinnamonSanshu no ShinkiKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonSeegoreKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, Black pepperSelephantKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Jasmine tea, KiwiShima Yusen 20Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonShima Yusen 35Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonShima Yusen Black Koji 20Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonShoryu GoldKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Jasmine tea, CinnamonTaiko no Kuro UsagiKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonThe Ancient Black RabbitKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonTida Asahi Kokuto ShochuKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonTida Ichinojo Kokuto ShochuKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonYayoi 30Kokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Jasmine tea, MintYayoi Araroka Kokuto ShochuKokuto (brown sugar) · Kagoshima (Amami Oshima)Start with Ginger beer, GingerYayoi GenshuKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Ginger beer, CinnamonYayoi Iriomote IslandKokuto (brown sugar) · KagoshimaStart with Jasmine tea, Cinnamon
Sources
A substitution is our judgement, not a fact, and you are invited to disagree with it. The citations below are for the facts it rests on.