Caldo de cana

Garapa (var. Guarapa) or Caldo de cana is the Brazilian Portuguese term for the juice of raw sugar cane. Sugar cane juice is consumed as a beverage worldwide, and especially in regions where sugar cane is commercially grown such as Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Latin America.

Sugar cane juice is also known as "guarapo", "guarapo de caña", or "jugo de guarapo" in various dialects of Spanish, "ganne ka ras" or "roh" on the Indian subcontinent, "aseer asab" in Egypt, "air tebu" in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, and "nước mía" in Vietnam. The drink is obtained by crushing peeled sugar cane in a small hand- or electric mill. The freshly pressed juice is often served cold with other ingredients added, such as a squeeze of lemon or lime (in Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, India), pineapple (Brazil), passion fruit, ginger (India, Zanzibar) or ice. In India it can also be served with black salt or mint.

Due to its high sugar content, it is rich in calories. Garapa juice is the primary source of sugar cane derivatives such as raw sugar (obtained by evaporation and refining), cachaça or "caninha" and ethanol.

Sugar cane juice is especially popular among the Cuban expatriate community in Miami, where it is found in abundance at many locations in Little Havana. This mobile vendor is setting shop daily here on SW 71st Avenue just South of Bird Road, and it has more offerings than just sugar cane juice (guarapo.) That includes fruits, vegetable and coconut juice.

When prepared in rural areas, raw sugar cane juice can be a health risk to drinkers, mostly because of the unhygienic conditions under which it is prepared in these areas. Since it is very sugary, it is an ideal culture medium to all kinds of microorganisms, so it should not be stored outside a refrigerator. In fact, it is almost always consumed as a freshly prepared drink. If you decide to drink this juice, make sure you do not see flies flying around the pressing machinery because it's very likely that some flies may have been mixed together as protein addition you may not want to consume.