There is no shortage of distilled booze in South America. Both grape-based, Chile and Peru have pisco while Bolivia is big on singani. Sugarcane spirits are popular across the entire continent, particularly in Brazil. Despite it being mostly drunk domestically, Brazilian cachaça’s gargantuan volumes make it one of the world’s most consumed spirits.
Gin, on the other hand, has no history in South America. “In 2015 it was impossible to drink a Gin and Tonic in a Brazilian bar, or even to buy a bottle in a supermarket throughout all of Brazil except for Sao Paulo, Rio, Salvador, and a few other big cities,” says Laerte de Araujo Lima, a leading Brazilian gin social media communicator and podcaster who goes by the moniker Gin Tonic Brasil.
Since then, things have changed considerably. Today, Brazil boasts more than 250 gin manufacturers making more than 800 labels. Not bad for a country that, seven years ago, could claim a mere nine registered gin distilleries.
Entrepreneur Bruno Siqueira, owner of popular gin brand Atlantis, is responsible for much of Brazil’s gin
