cane-based spirits comprise a far-flung family of distillates made from any of the several species of Saccharum, the perennial grasses more commonly known as sugar cane, which thrive in tropical and subtropical climates. See sugar cane. These spirits may be distilled from various fermented sugar-cane derivatives, such as molasses, cane syrup, or freshly pressed cane juice. See molasses and cane syrup. See cane syrup. Their names are legion, too many to collect here.
The standard-bearer for the category is rum, the Caribbean’s contribution to the global pantheon of great spirits. See rum. Now produced in all corners of the world, from Austria to Australia, rum is most often distilled from the same raw material used in the seventeenth century to make the first documented rums on Barbados and neighboring islands: molasses, a byproduct of sugar production. In some places, such as Guatemala and Paraguay, rum is distilled from the boiled-down version of cane juice known as cane syrup (in Paraguay it must be reduced over an open flame).
In the latter part of the nineteenth century, a decline in the value of sugar from French possessions in the Caribbean led to the production of rum distilled from fresh sugar-cane juice, which became known as rhum agricole. See rhum agricole. Brazil’s national spirit, cachaça, which traces its history back at least as far as Caribbean rum, is also made from fresh cane juice, though it is usually distilled to a lower proof than rhum agricole and may be aged in barrels made of indigenous woods. See cachaça.
While most Caribbean and Latin American nations produce rums aged for varying lengths of time, much of which is exported, many of these countries also make more rustic versions of cane-based spirits for domestic consumption. In Colombia, for example, anise-flavored aguardiente (which translates loosely as “firewater”) is the cane-based spirit of choice, typically knocked back in shots. Aguardiente is also popular in neighboring Ecuador, where it tends to be unflavored and mixed into hot drinks. See aguardiente. A similar spirit in Costa Rica goes by the name of guaro, made almost exclusively by a government-owned distillery. See guaro. Elsewhere in South America, locally distilled cane juice spirit is known simply as caña, or “cane.”
In Haiti, which exports rums of cognac-like refinement, the people’s choice is clairin, a cane-based moonshine often sold in reused bottles. See clairin. Panama, too, sends its rums around the world, though Panamanians are just as likely to drink seco, a relatively neutral cane spirit traditionally mixed with milk.
Unlike most of its Latin American brethren, Mexico is best known for its agave-based spirits. However, the country formerly made vast amounts of chinguirito from cane juice or skimmings, and the state of Michoacán makes a cane spirit called charanda, though the number of distilleries making charanda has been declining for many years. See
While Asia might not spring to mind as a hotbed of cane-based spirits, there is evidence to suggest that the progenitors of the category may have first been made in India. And Indonesia’s Batavia arrack once rivaled or even surpassed the reputation of Caribbean rum. Although made, like most rum, from molasses, Batavia arrack employed fermented rice cakes to trigger the fermentation process. See arrack, Batavia. A staple of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century punch recipes, it later faded into obscurity. Only in recent years, in response to demand from historically minded mixologists, has Batavia arrack reemerged.
Africa, too, has its share of cane spirits, including the homemade cane juice of Liberia. South Africa produces a vodka-like spirit from sugar cane called simply cane spirit; made with continuous column stills, it is essentially neutral in flavor. Across the Mozambique Channel, Madagascar makes a great deal of toaka gasy, a much more rustic spirit. See Central and East Africa.
In many countries around the world, including the United States, the ready availability of table sugar makes it a popular raw material for making illicit moonshine. Several national variations of sugar-based hooch can be found throughout eastern and northern Europe, such as Finnish pontikka and Russian samogon. See moonshine and samogon.
Buglass, Alan J. Handbook of Alcoholic Beverages: Technical, Analytical and Nutritional Aspects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
Minnick, Fred. Rum Curious: The Indispensable Tasting Guide to the World’s Spirit. Minneapolis: Voyageur, 2017.
Smith, Frederick H. Caribbean Rum: A Social and Economic History. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2005.
By: David Mahoney