Fodor's Expert Review Academia da Cachaça

Not merely the place in Rio to try caipirinhas (made here with a variety of tropical fruits), Academia da Cachaça is a veritable temple to cachaça. The small bar sells close to 100 brands of cachaça by the glass or bottle, as well as mixing the famous sugarcane rum into dangerously drinkable concoctions such as the cocada geladinha—frozen coconut, coconut water, brown sugar, and cachaça. The Northeastern bar snacks here include sun-dried beef, baked palm hearts, and delicious black-bean soup. There's now an affiliate in Barra da Tijuca, but it's hard to beat the Leblon original.