Guia Cultural da Costa Verde

Paraty • Paraty

CACHAÇA CORISCO

Come and see the mill wheel that goes back in time

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This old mill dating back to 1948 with its water wheel, located in a farm that belonged to the Barros family, was used to produce home-made cachaça. The farm was subsequently divided by the heirs and in 1977 one of the parts – precisely the distillery and the cassava mill – was acquired by Aníbal Gama from a traditional local family, where to this day his sons Luiz and Claudio Luiz preserve the tradition and have even enhanced the production of the Corisco brand cachaça.

Its name refers to the district of Paraty where the mill is located and to the word’s definition of a spark or lightning bolt during a thunderstorm. The person in charge of the distillery is Luiz Gama, who was taught by his father. His brother Claudio takes care of sales. The handsome water wheel works perfectly and crushes the sugarcane that supplies both stills. The cane is acquired from smallholders in the region and annual production ranges from 20 to 30,000 liters. Pursuant to the best tradition, the liquor in bottled manually and is produced in the Gold, Silver, Caramel and Bluish versions. The traditional version is stored for two and a half years and the Gold is aged over three years. The Corisco brand is certified and very much appreciated, as are other labels from Paraty.

The distillery provides guided tours, during which the production process is explained, including a tasting session, but previous scheduling is required. The property also has an old water mill that produces cassava meal, widely appreciated by the local inhabitants. Cachaça Corisco’s fan page shows a video with the water wheel at work crushing sugarcane, yet there is nothing like the experience of visiting the mill. This is a worthwhile step back in time!

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