The buzziest bars in Rio de Janeiro: where to drink chopps and caipirinhas (2023)

FAQs

What is the most popular drink in Rio de Janeiro? ›

Made with cachaça, lemon and sugar, caipirinha became the quintessential Brazilian spirit and the most consumed by Cariocas and tourists. And no wonder it is one of the 10 must-see attractions in the city. Cachaça and caipirinha are, therefore, drinks that you can not miss during your visit to Rio de Janeiro.

It's Brazil's national cocktail: a wicked mix of lime, sugar, cachaça (sugar cane liquor) and lots of ice. I remember my first trip to Brazil in 1998 when I went on a sailing trip near Rio de Janeiro.

Bar Luiz. One of the oldest and most traditional bars in Rio, Bar Luiz opened in 1887 – before slavery was abolished in Brazil and before the proclamation of the republic.

The caipirinha (kai-purr-REEN-yah) is the national drink of Brazil. It's the most popular cocktail in the South American country, and everyone has their own way of making it. Today, it is a hit worldwide and should be on every home and pro bartender's essential drink list.

More often than not, cachaça is served in a Caipirinha or used as a rum substitute in cocktails like Daiquiris. But good quality cachaça (especially aged cachaça) can and should be consumed neat or on the rocks.

If you are not disturbing or walking drunk in the street, you can basically drink whenever and wherever you want, just use the good sense (avoid drinking in churches, official buildings …). It is your deal, nobody will care. Yes, as Bragbai says, you can enjoy alcoholic beverages.

Sean's Bar, which dates back to the Middle Ages! Also listed in the Guinness Book of Records for the historicity of the building that houses it, Sean's Bar has been recognised as the oldest bar in the world. It is located in Athlon, a small town on the banks of the Shannon River, in the centre of Ireland.

The nation's oldest bar, Rhode Island's White Horse Tavern, opened in 1673. Some of these establishments are in America's oldest towns. Here are 102 American towns founded before the American Revolution.

What is the oldest favela in Rio? ›

Rio's oldest favela, Providência, was founded in 1897 within a decade of the abolition of slavery, in the Port area that received two million enslaved Africans (four times the number taken to the entire United States).

Caipirinha, pronouced kai-pee-reen-ya, is Brazil's national cocktail! It's made with limes, sugar, ice and cachaça, a Brazilian distilled liquor made from the fermentation of raw sugarcane juice.

Cuba has rum. Brazil's spirit goes by the name of cachaça, a rum-like liquor steeped in history. Unlike much rum, it is not made from molasses but from fresh sugarcane juice that is fermented and distilled.

Beer is the world's most widely consumed alcoholic drink, and is the third-most consumed drink overall, after water and tea.

Cachaca is distilled to a lower strength than the 90-plus-per-cent alcohol level of most white spirits, such as vodka and light rum (though like those other spirits it ultimately is usually diluted to about 40 per cent prior to bottling).

It tastes, somehow, like a beach vacation: the cachaça has more depth than sweetness, carrying the flavor of sugar cane without actually being sweet; the rest is all bright citrusy tang. (Consider it the pared-down cousin of the mojito.) It's also, forgivingly, insanely simple to make at home.

A Brief Introduction to Cachaça, Brazil's National Liquor.

What is the Most Popular Beer in Brazil? There are a number of names competing for the title of most popular Brazilian beer. Today, the most popular Brazilian brands are Skol, Nova Schin, Antarctica, and Itaipava. Skol, one of the leading Brazilian Beers, did not actually start off as a Brazilian beer brand at all.

Chances are high you encountered Brazil's national drink, the Caipirinha, if you've traveled to the South American country. Refreshing and easy to make, the cocktail contains fresh lime juice, sugar and cachaça—a spirit as central to Brazilian identity as samba, soccer and carnival.

The first cachaças to come out of Brazil by way of export were cheap, rough, astringent, and guaranteed to deliver a fútbol-stadium-sized hangover. Fortunately, this is changing thanks to a proliferation of small distillers and even a few major brands that are taking the craft to new heights.

Do you take shots of cachaça? ›

The cocktail is simple to prepare – smash lime slices in a glass with two teaspoons of sugar, ice cubes and a shot of cachaça. While many Americans have likely heard of or enjoyed a caipirinha, they may not know the history behind the drink and the liquor that completes it.

It is typically between 38% and 48% alcohol by volume. When homemade, it can be as strong as the distiller wants.

Areas to avoid in Rio de Janeiro

As a general rule, don't visit the favelas (slums), especially in Zona Norte, even on a guided tour. Your safety can't be guaranteed by the tour company or the police when traveling into these communities. No one knows the city like the locals do.

Flushing and brushing. Plumbing is pretty basic in Brazil, so place your used toilet paper in the bin provided beside the toilet. When you take a shower, keep your mouth closed and don't use tap water to brush your teeth. Never ever drink the tap water, always boil it first.

Copacabana is one of the best neighborhoods, both in terms of safety and convenience, it is a neighborhood for those who love the beach, with good access to public transportation, good restaurants and bars, and lively nightlife as well.

Drinking Laws -- Officially, the legal drinking age in Brazil is 18, but it's not often enforced. Beer, wine, and liquor can be bought on any day of the week from grocery stores and snack stands. Drinking is allowed in public places and in motor vehicles.

1. Feijoada. The most famous of all Brazilian dishes, Feijoada is eaten in every corner of the country. This rich, hearty stew consists of black beans cooked with different cuts of pork, supplemented with tomatoes, cabbage, and carrots to round out the flavor.

The White Horse Tavern is the “oldest operating restaurant in the U.S.” and is acknowledged as the 10^tholdest in the world. The White Horse Tavern is a National Historic Landmark being America's oldest restaurant, having served guests since 1673.

There's a new cosmopolitan cocktail capital: Barcelona is home to Paradiso, the newly crowned world's best bar. For the first time since the World's 50 Best Bars list was created in 2009, a bar outside of New York or London earned the No.

What is the smallest bar in the world? ›

Backdoor 43 claims to be the smallest bar in the world. True to its word, this place only has room for four guests.

Rio de Janeiro's safest favelas

The key ones in the south are Pavão-Pavãozinho, located between Copacabana and Ipanema; Cantagalo in Copacabana; Santa Marta in Botafogo; and Vidigal and Rocinha just past Leblon. Cantagalo has a bar at the top called Gilda no Cantagalo and can be accessed by van or motor taxi.

Rocinha: This is the largest favela in Brazil, and while some consider it one of the safer favelas to visit, others recommend that tourists don't visit it on their own without a local guide.

favela, also spelled favella, in Brazil, a slum or shantytown located within or on the outskirts of the country's large cities, especially Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. A favela typically comes into being when squatters occupy vacant land at the edge of a city and construct shanties of salvaged or stolen materials.

Traditionally, cachaça is distilled to a much lower alcoholic strength than rum. While most cachaça you find is unaged (labelled branca, white in English), the spirit can be aged in casks: oak is the most common material used, but distillers can also choose local hardwoods such as Amendoim bravo and peanut.

Flavors of Cachaça

Smaller-batch unaged cachaças often tasty grassy or funky, like a rhum agricole or a bianco tequila. Aged cachaças take on flavor notes from their barrels, and can taste like Christmas spices, baked or dried fruits, coffee, and/or grass (in a good way).

Unaged, cachaça has a clean, earthy, grassy flavor to it that, depending on the particular version you're sipping on, may taste like vodka, tequila, or rhum agricole (a style of rhum from the French Caribbean that's also made from fermented cane juice).

For R$6 (which at the time of writing this translates to approximately $3.60USD) you can buy a (glass) 750 ml bottle (a fifth) of 51 (Cinquenta e Um), the classiest cachaça in Brazil (note: an 8oz can of Red Bull costs more than this).

Cachaça is often called Brazilian rum, a nickname that isn't entirely wrong: both rum and cachaça are made from sugar, but rum is made from sugarcane by-products, like molasses, whereas cachaça is made straight from the sugarcane itself.

Is cachaça stronger than tequila? ›

Cachaca has a lower alcohol content than most white spirits. Cachaa is typically grown in Brazil, whereas tequila is grown in Mexico. One of the primary distinctions is the use of a sugar base rather than a sweetener such as Agave. Cacha*a is a distilled spirit made from fermented cane juice.

With an ABV of 96 per cent, Spirytus is the single most powerful drink in the world.

Beer. Beer is the most popular alcoholic beverage worldwide. In fact, after water and tea, beer is the most commonly-consumed drink in the world. Beer is also most likely the oldest alcoholic drink in history.

Caipirinha (Portuguese pronunciation: [kajpiˈɾĩɲɐ]) is Brazil's national cocktail, made with cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), sugar, and lime. The drink is prepared by mixing the fruit and the sugar together, then adding the liquor.

Cachaça is often called Brazilian rum, a nickname that isn't entirely wrong: both rum and cachaça are made from sugar, but rum is made from sugarcane by-products, like molasses, whereas cachaça is made straight from the sugarcane itself.

Rio BOOM Energy Drink is a functional beverage and its formula contains high quality ingredients: Caffeine, Taurine, some B-group Vitamins, Sugars and carbonated water.

Can I Drink Cachaça Straight? More often than not, cachaça is served in a Caipirinha or used as a rum substitute in cocktails like Daiquiris. But good quality cachaça (especially aged cachaça) can and should be consumed neat or on the rocks.

In Brazil, breakfast is usually on the lighter side. Lunch is a much heartier meal, so most Brazilians stick with coffee and a small plate. The name for breakfast is, in fact, café da manhã, which translates to “morning coffee.” The food you eat might change, but coffee in some form is essential.

The main distinction tends to be purity. Cachaca is distilled to a lower strength than the 90-plus-per-cent alcohol level of most white spirits, such as vodka and light rum (though like those other spirits it ultimately is usually diluted to about 40 per cent prior to bottling).

Is Rio strong alcoholic? ›

Product: Rio Strong is a 16% alcohol carbonated wine that is sweet and light red in color. It is positioned as a STRONG party drink.

Rio (Chinese: RIO锐澳鸡尾酒) is a Chinese ready to drink alcopop beverage brand conceived in 2003 and manufactured by Shanghai Bacchus Limited Company, an arm of the Australian-based Bacchus Distillery. Rio is a member of the China Alcoholic Drinks Association, and was inducted in 2010.

A grape flavored low alcoholic brandy based drink. This drink contains alcohol level of 3.8%.

According to these, aguardente, caninha or cachaça is a drink with an alcoholic strength ranging from 38%-54% at 20ºC, obtained from the distillation of alcohol from sugar cane or from the fermentation of sugar cane.

Vodka, cauim, white rum, and sake all make great substitutes for Cachaca while still providing the same level of flavor and complexity.