Panela is the traditional unrefined cane sugar of Colombia and the wider Andes, sold as solid blocks, discs or bricks of boiled-down sugarcane juice. A member of the same non-centrifugal cane sugar family as Mexican piloncillo and Brazilian rapadura, it keeps the molasses that refining strips away, giving it a golden-amber to deep-brown colour and a rounded caramel, molasses and honey sweetness. It is the sweetener behind agua de panela — Colombia's everyday hot-and-cold drink — and the backbone of much regional cooking and baking.