^ this photo by Ludovic Poitou reminds me of Manet’s A Bar at the Folies-Bergére.
Another group activity in Porto Alegre was an evening of cachaça tasting at Ãgua Doce. Brazil’s national drink is made from distilled sugar cane juice, but beyond that there’s plenty of scope for variety in distilling and aging methods and flavor additions.
Some of us tried a few during dinner; I especially liked a coconut-flavored one that Eduardo got. Then we had an official tasting of five different types (aged in oak, aged in cherry, “plain” as used for mixing caipirinhas…). Most of us bought a bottle or two to take home, my choice was a sweetish liqueur version.
