Here comes the Pisco Sour
Peru has given the world some precious bounty. Like what, you ask? If you’re a traveler, you’ll treasure Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines. If you’re a foodie, you’ll crave ceviche and rocoto hot pepper sauce. But if you’re a drinker, Peru’s gift to you is its national tipple, the pisco sour.
“In Peru, we don’t meet for a drink,” says Melanie Asher. “We bar-hop for pisco sour.” Asher grew up in Washington, D.C. and Lima, and now owns a pisco liquor distillery that produces two popular brands, Macchu Pisco and La Diablada. “Pisco sours are a Peruvian obsession. They’re almost sacred,” she says. “For a bar to cut corners on their pisco sour would be an outrage.”
National pride that hinges on a cocktail? Score one for drinkers. And Asher’s right; Lima amazes visitors with its pisco prowess. I discovered this fact on a recent bar crawl through the artsy, nightclubby Barranco neighborhood. Hey, I’ve had a long-term friendship with a Mexican gal named Margarita. But now I’ve got a new best friend: a sweetie named pisco sour.
This genius concoction is based on pisco, a hard liquor originally brewed in the Peruvian seaport of Pisco. It’s distilled from grapes a la grappa, and is equally strong. Sipping-quality piscos are made from a single local grape variety, often an aromatic one such as Muscat or Italia. So-called acholado pisco, better suited to mixing, results from silky-smooth blending of strategically chosen grapes. Pisco is regulated to insure quality, and no additives of any kind are permitted.
Downing your pisco straight is, shall we say, an advanced approach. But the pisco sour is an approachable mixed drink. Now, I’m partial to slings, or cocktails made with liquor, fruit juice, and sugar. And to me, the pisco sour is a perfect sling: eye-rollingly delicious yet exotic-tasting, potent but not lethal, and easy enough to make at home.
In its basic form, the cocktail requires little more than pisco, lemon and/or lime juice, and simple syrup. But you get authenticity points by invoking the pisco sour’s Eureka ingredients: an egg white that creates the drink’s trademark foam top, and a few drops of Angostura bitters that supply a sultry, spicy flavor.
Lima bartenders are competitive about both their basic version and their creative takes on the classic. At a lively Barranco lounge called Ayahuasca my co-conspirators and I relished a summery pisco sour thick with fresh strawberry puree. We chased it with an herbaceous pisco sour that was green with macerated coca leaves, Peru’s folk remedy for altitude sickness.
Our next stop, Picas nightclub, served miraculous maracuya (passion fruit) sours. And Chala’s bartender finessed an autumnal apple-cinnamon sour. You can do it, too. Just add the fresh fruit juice or puree of your choice along with your lemon/lime juice. It’s all bueno.
Mark your calendars: Peru celebrates Pisco Sour Day on the first Saturday in February; in 2011 it’ll be on the 5th. Peruvians wear their flag’s colors, red and white, on the day. Just so you know.
www.ayahuascabar.com
How to mix pisco sours at home:
Pisco sours taste best freshly-made. This recipe makes a round for two.
2-3 oz. pisco liquor
1/2 oz. fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 oz. fresh-squeezed lime juice
1/2 oz. simple syrup (cane sugar dissolved in a bit of hot water and chilled)
1 egg white (To separate, crack an egg in the middle. Pour contents back and forth from each half to the other half over a bowl. The white should slide into the bowl.)
Angostura bitters
Combine all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with small or chipped ice cubes. Shake vigorously as long as possible and strain into stemmed glasses. Top with several drops of Angostura bitters.
Sidebars
Where to order a pisco sour stateside:
These bars make them with Melanie Asher’s pisco brands, Macchu Pisco and La Diablada.
New York City – Death and Company, Nuela, PDT, Pastis, Pulino’s, Raine’s Law Room, SushiSamba
Los Angeles – First and Hope, Riviera
San Francisco – The Alembic, Nopa, Smuggler’s Cove
Boston – Eastern Standard, Craigie on Main, Cuchi Cuchi
Where to buy Macchu Pisco and La Diablada pisco stateside:
New York City – Astor Wines & Spirits and Borisal Liquor & Wine
Los Angeles – Harry’s Wine and Total Wine
San Francisco – Cask
Boston – Charles St. Liquors, Martignetti’s, and Marty’s