Simple and efficient elimination of copper(II) in sugar-cane spirits

Cachaça is a distilled alcoholic beverage, produced in large quantities in Brazil, from fermentation of sugar cane juice. It is normally distillated in copper stills, which can sometimes cause contamination with this element, at toxic levels. An efficient method to remove copper ions to lower than 5 ppm in such alcoholic distillates, without perceptible changes in organoleptical properties, was herein developed. This method is based on a treatment with either CaCO3 or MgCO3, which behave as cationic exchangers.