Flavio, his family and I had dinner at the Academy of Cachaca [Academia da Cachaca]. Not far from their home on the edge of a small shopping center on a tree-lined road by the lagoon sits a gem of a bar/bistro. It is dedicated to cachaca and offers dozens of brands. We tried a few caipirinhas [the passion fruit version won hands down] which are served with or with out "sugar." We chose the sugar-less. Then we went on to the shots of "good" cachaca. It was very much like the old tequila craze or sampling "good" grappa. It is very much like grappa, Dinner was shredded beef on garbanzos with tiny Habanera-like peppers that pack quite a whollop! I called it an early night and crashed for a good 8 hours. My first real sleep in two days. If you are interested in cachaca and caipirinhas check out www.caipirinha.us.
