Efeito da adição de açúcar e do processo de envelhecimento na qualidade sensorial de amostras de cachaça obtidas tradicionalmente e por redestilação

Abstract

Sugarcane spirit is the second most consumed alcoholic beverage in Brazil and its consumption is increasing and attracting the interest of the foreign market, which demands high quality standards. This study evaluated the effect of adding liquid sugar on the sensory quality of sugarcane spirit samples obtained traditionally and by redistillation and submitted to an ageing process in oak casks or otherwise. The samples analyzed came from a batch of traditionally obtained sugarcane spirit, which was diluted to 40 °GL and 0.5% of liquid sugar added. The results obtained showed a great influence of the ageing process and of the redistillation process, as well as a specific influence of the addition of sugar on the sensory quality and on the chemical composition of the sugarcane spirit. The results also showed that the practice of redistillation is efficient in decreasing the levels of copper and ethyl carbamate in the beverage, but that the copper, present in the walls of the casks used, can return to the beverage during the ageing process and produce ethyl carbamate by catalytic action as from precursors eventually present in the beverage.