Cachaca vs Rum: What’s The Difference?

Whether you’re an avid connoisseur of artisan cocktails or a bon vivant who only occasionally dips into libations, there’s a solid chance you’ve seen cachaca slipped onto bar menus or bantered about between mixologists. From punchy hurricanes to palate-perfect daiquiris, cachaca is increasingly seen in tropical drinks where we expect rum to be.
This begs the questions: Are these spirits one and the same? What is gold rum? What are the different types of rum? What’s the difference between rum and whiskey? And, if not, what’s the difference between cachaca and rum?
Let’s dive into the cachaca vs rum debate—preferably with a drink in hand and some samba playing in the background.
What Is Cachaca?

To the uninitiated, Cachaca seems like Brazilian rum. You may have heard some people utter, “Cachaca is pretty much just like rum.” To which any expert on spirits would scoff or drop their jaw in horror.
There are similarities, to be sure, but these are eclipsed by the vast differences between rum and cachaca. Cachaca—pronounced ka-shah-sa—is, like rum, a distilled alcoholic spirit. However…
So, What Is Rum?
While Brazilian Cachaça is the exotic foreign exchange student at the college soirée, rum is the trusty friend next door—although with more sophisticated nuances than we might realize if we’re new to university, er, the realm of fine spirits.
Here’s how the essential mai tai ingredient differs from cachaca:

Cachaca vs Rum: What Are the Similarities?
If you happen to find yourself in a cachaça vs rum debate, rest assured that one isn’t better than the other. As beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the taste is on the tongue of the cocktail sipper. Flavor preferences—in a highball and beyond—are entirely subjective.
Besides, there are also similarities between the two, which is why they are often thought of as interchangeable. (Also, cachaca was marketed as a “category of rum” when it first hit the United States.)4 Here’s why:
- Both spirits were used in the slave trade, albeit in separate ways. In Brazil, slaves who worked in the sugarcane fields were forced to produce cachaca and, according to some sources, were given rations of the drink to make labor more tolerable. Rum, on the other hand, was used for trading for slaves, even though slaves were a huge part of the rum-making process.
- Similar to tequila, cachaca, and rum are distinguished by their colors—which is the result of how they were preserved post-distillation. Rum is usually characterized as light rum or dark rum, while cachaca may be branca (white) or amarela (gold).
- Cachaca and rum are superb solo—either ice-cold, neat, straight, or on the rocks—and in an array of cocktails. For example, if you want to try Caipirinha, you'll need 2 ounces of Cachaca, 2 wedges of lime, and 2 teaspoons of sugar, and garnish the shot glass with an extra lime wedge.
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Now that you have the difference between rum and cachaca down pat, it’s time to start stocking your shelves for your future fetes or those evenings at home when you want to kick back with a glass in hand.
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Sources:
- Advanced Mixology. What is cachaca? The history of Brazil’s national spirit. https://advancedmixology.com/blogs/art-of-mixology/what-is-cachaca
- Alcohol.org. Alcohol by volume (ABV): beer, wine, & liquor. https://alcohol.org/statistics-information/abv/
- Brittanica. Rum/liquor. https://www.britannica.com/topic/rum-liquor
- The Spruce Eats. What is cachaca? https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-cachaca-760699