The city's economic activity revived as a port for a new boom, the coffee
trade of the Paraiba do Sul River Valley in the early 19th century, until a
railway along the valley created cheaper transport to the port of Rio de
Janeiro. Another smaller revival came late in the 19th century with the production
of cachaça, which is a sugarcane-derived spirit best known today as the basis
for Brazil's most famous drink, the caipirinha. The name "Paraty" in
that period became synonymous with cachaça. Since then, Paraty has been out of
the mainstream, which is why it did not change for centuries, until a paved
road was
