Grogue, also known as grogu or grogo (derived from English ''

grog Grog is a term used for a variety of alcoholic beverages. Origin and history Popularization of rum and invention of grog Following Invasion of Jamaica, England's conquest of Jamaica in 1655, rum gradually replaced beer and brandy as the drink ...

''), is a

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

an alcoholic beverage, an

aguardente (Portuguese language, Portuguese) or (Spanish language, Spanish) (; ; ) is a type of distilled alcoholic spirit that contains between 29% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). It is a somewhat generic term that can refer to liquors made from vario ...

made from sugarcane. Its production is fundamentally artisanal, and nearly all the sugarcane is used in the production of grogue. The cane is processed in a press known as a ''

trapiche A trapiche is a mill made of wooden rollers used to extract juice from fruit, originally olives, and since the Middle Ages, sugar cane as well. By extension the word is also sometimes applied to the location of the mill, whether the workshop or t ...

''. Grogue is the basis for a Cape Verdean cocktail known as ''ponche'' (derived from the English word "punch"), which also includes lime and molasses, comparable to the ''

poncha Poncha is a traditional alcoholic drink from the island of Madeira, made with aguardente de cana (distilled alcohol made from sugar cane juice), honey, sugar, and either orange juice or lemon juice. Some varieties include other fruit juices. I ...

'' of the island of

Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...

. Grogue and sugarcane production are primarily found in Santo Antão (notably Ribeira do Paul and Ribeira da Cruz) and

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile (), is the capital and largest city of Chile and one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is located in the country's central valley and is the center of the Santiago Metropolitan Regi ...

. Grogue is also used as a base for medicinal preparations, with the addition of herbs such as

common rue ''Ruta graveolens'', commonly known as rue, common rue or herb-of-grace, is a species of the genus ''Ruta'' grown as an ornamental plant and herb. It is native to the Mediterranean. It is grown throughout the world in gardens, especially for it ...

rosemary ''Salvia rosmarinus'' (), commonly known as rosemary, is a shrub with fragrant, evergreen, needle-like leaves and white, pink, purple, or blue flowers. It is a member of the sage family, Lamiaceae. The species is native to the Mediterranean r ...

, or

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...

. There is also a grogue preparation made with percebes ( goose neck barnacles). Grogue is made by an old traditional way and because of this there are a lot of different qualities on the market. The government of Cabo Verde is now busy with a European company to introduce grogue on the European markets. This will be a fully controlled grogue of the best quality by the name 'Grogue Official'. In some tourist locations,

caipirinha Caipirinha () is a Brazilian cocktail, of São Paulo (state), São Paulo origin, with cachaça (sugarcane hard liquor), sugar, Lime (fruit), lime, and ice. The drink is prepared by mixing the fruit and the sugar together, then adding the liquor. ...

s are prepared with grogue.

Gallery

Image:1996.12.00.cv.sa.RibeiradaCruz.Trapiche.jpg, ''Trapiche'' in Ribeira da Cruz, Santo Antão, Cape Verde File:Still used for making grogue in Cape Verde.jpg, Still used for making on Santo Antão File:Distilling grogue in Cape Verde.JPG, Distilling grogue

Gallery

References

Further reading