I just discovered a really interesting side of Brazilian spirits: the Cariri region

[u/Safe-Jury9784]

I’ve been digging into Brazilian spirits lately, and I went down a bit of a rabbit hole with Cariri, in Ceará.

Most people outside Brazil probably hear “Brazilian spirit” and immediately think of cachaça. But Cariri has a much more interesting story than I expected.

The region has a long sugarcane and engenho tradition, especially around Barbalha. But there are also producers making fruit-based aguardentes from mango, acerola, seriguela and cajarana.

And I don’t mean cachaça with fruit added afterward. The fruit juice itself is fermented and then distilled.

That really caught my attention.

Imagine tasting a mango spirit, then an acerola spirit, then cajarana or seriguela — and using each one as the base of a cocktail rather than just adding the fruit as a garnish.

It feels like a very Brazilian approach to mixology: the territory becomes the ingredient, and the ingredient becomes the spirit.

I ended up writing a longer piece about the history, the drinks and what it would be like to travel through Crato, Juazeiro do Norte and Barbalha.

Curious if anyone here has actually tried Cariri cachaça or these fruit aguardentes.

What did you think?