Cachaça is a potent Brazilian booze made from fermented sugarcane. Like all down-home spirits, it can both cause resurrection in the dead and make your body want to exorcise itself. At various times, makers of cachaça have had to get creative in branding their product so as to evade pesky governmental control. At other times, drinkers of this brew felt the need to more accurately describe the effects of their drink of choice. Here’s a list of some of the drink’s more lyrical pseudonyms:
abre-coração heart-opener
aca academic
água-benta holy water
água-que-gato-não-bebe water that the cat doesn’t drink
aguarrás turpentine
alicate pliers
amarelinha hopscotch
amansa-corno tamed horn
apaga-tristeza sorrow-be-gone
aquela-que-matou-o-guarda that which kills the guard
arrebenta-peito chest-burster
bafo-de-tigre tiger breath
champanha-da-terra earth-champagne
cobertor-de-pobre blanket-of-the-poor
engasga-gato cat-choker
extrato-hepático liver-extract
faz-xodó sweetheart-maker
garapa-doida crazy-syrup
gramática grammar
homeopatia homeopathy
iaiá-me-sacode Yaya shake me
lágrima-de-virgem tears-of-the-virgin
limpa-olho eye-wash
pau-no-burro stick-in-the-ass
quebra-jejum breakfast
tira-vergonha shame-stripper
urina-de-santo saint-urine
