Caipirinha, Brazil's national drink is made with cachaca, a potent sugarcane liquor. You can substitute light rum if you can't find cachaca.

Does cachaça taste like rum?

As for taste, cachaça, rum, and rhum agricole are very different. Cachaça and rhum agricole tend to have a much fruitier, livelier nose, whereas rum has a spicier, caramelized flavor. "Cachaça is much gentler than rhum agricole and much cleaner in flavor than most molasses rums," notes Wondrich.

Is cachaça a rum or tequila?

Short answer: cachaça is like rum, but from Brazil.