production of this spirit in paraty dates back to the origins of the town itself, in fact during the colonial period paraty was the principal producer of cachaça and the word 'paraty' was synonymous with quality drink.

at its peak in the mid nineteenth century, there were some 150 distilleries in the town and today six survive, all counted among the top quality brands of cachaça - to celebrate this tradition, the town began holding the pinga festival in 1983, and it has grown to become a major culinary attraction.