The Story

Thoquino is the Brazilian cachaça produced by the Thomaz de Aquino family distillery, which has been in operation since 1906. More than a century later it remains a family producer, running a full vertical chain — they grow the sugar cane, press the juice on site, ferment, distil and bottle within the same operation. Nothing is bought in from third parties; the cane that leaves the field at one end of the process is the cachaça that goes into the bottle at the other.

The cachaça category is the largest spirit category in Brazil and one of the largest in the world by volume, but the international market only sees a fraction of the country's production. Most of what is exported is industrial cachaça built around column distillation. Thoquino sits in the other camp — small-scale, family-run, made from fresh cane juice rather than molasses, in the artisanal tradition that defines the cachaça country drinks at home.

Cachaça (or "aguardente de cana", to use the older Portuguese term) is by law a Brazilian-only product made from the fermented juice of sugar cane. Thoquino is a direct line into that tradition. 3Two1 Drinks distributes Thoquino Cachaça across Australia.

What Makes It Different

The crucial fact is what Thoquino is made from. Cachaça by definition is distilled from fresh sugar cane juice — not from molasses, which is the byproduct base for most international rum production. That juice-vs-molasses split is the same divide that separates Caribbean rum from French Caribbean rhum agricole. Thoquino sits firmly on the juice side of the line.

Fresh cane juice gives cachaça a green, grassy, almost vegetal character — closer in family to a rhum agricole than to a Caribbean rum. The flavour is brighter, more aromatic, with the raw sweetness of pressed cane still legible in the finished spirit. The Thoquino expression is bottled at 40% ABV, the standard cachaça strength.

Because the Thomaz de Aquino distillery runs the full vertical — own cane, own press, own fermentation, own still — the producer controls every variable in the chain. That control is the reason small-batch artisanal cachaças like Thoquino taste different to mass-market Brazilian exports, and the reason they reward bartenders who want a real Caipirinha rather than a corner-cut version.

The Range

Thoquino is a focused, single-expression cachaça release.

How Bartenders Use It

Caipirinha

Thoquino, half a fresh lime cut into wedges, two barspoons of sugar. Muddle, fill with crushed ice, churn. The drink cachaça exists for — the grassy cane note is the entire point.

Batida

Thoquino, fresh tropical fruit (pineapple, coconut or passionfruit work best), condensed milk, lime. Blend short with ice. The Brazilian home-style sister to the Caipirinha.

Cachaça Spritz

Thoquino, dry vermouth, soda, lime wheel. A low-ABV aperitivo build with a different aromatic profile to a gin or tequila spritz.

Rabo de Galo

Thoquino and red vermouth, stirred, orange twist. The Brazilian "Rooster's Tail" — the country's answer to the Manhattan, built around cachaça and a rich vermouth.

Frequently Asked Questions