Pisco Sour Month: The 10 best Pisco Cocktails
February is Pisco Month, and Hotel Viñas Queirolo knows it! They’ve prepared a list of the most important cocktails made out of our national liquor. Let’s read about the ten best pisco cocktails.
1. Pisco Sour
The Pisco Sour is the most representative and famous drink that is prepared with pisco; it’s considered Peru’s national drink, and it is a favorite among Peruvians. This drink is a simple but elegant mix of pisco, lime juice, egg whites and simple syrup. There are many ways to mix it depending on one’s taste, but the most popular ratio is 2-1-1 (2 measures of pisco, 1 of lime juice, 1 of simple syrup, and ice).
2. Chilcano de pisco
In recent years the Pisco Chilcano has become just as popular as the pisco sour. Simple and delicious, this cocktail is prepared with pisco, ginger ale, a few drops of lime juice and ice. Several spinoffs of this drink are also served, made with fruit juice such as passion fruit or “aguaymanto” (Peruvian groundcherry), or made from macerated pisco.
3. Machu Picchu
This colorful cocktail lives up to our wonder of the world. It is made with pisco (obviously), grenadine syrup (red), mint cream (green), and orange juice (orange). These colors resemble the flag of Tahuantinsuyo, hence its unique name.
4. Perú Libre
Also known as “piscola”, this cocktail is the Peruvian version of the “Cuba Libre”. This drink is made from a dark cola (such as Coca-Cola), drops of lime juice, and, instead of rum, our delicious pisco.
5. Sol y Sombra (Sun and Shadow)
This cocktail has been around for awhile; it is very similar to the traditional chilcano, since it includes pisco, ginger ale and a few drops of lima juice. However, it also includes a generous splash of cherry liquor, usually from Huaura.
6. Cóctel de algarrobina
This cocktail is a kind of nog, because in addition to traditional Peruvian algarrobina, milk, eggs and pisco are added. It is usually prepared at family gatherings and at home, since it is a simple and delicious recipe.
7. Capitán
Known as the “Peruvian Martini”, this elegant cocktail, like the famous American cocktail, is made with vermouth and its classic olive. It’s said that this cocktail was born in a mining camp in the Peruvian province of Puno.
8. Pisco Sunrise
This cocktail is a take on the “Tequila Sunrise”, a drink prepared with orange juice, grenadine, simple syrup, and ice. It is smooth, sweet, and refreshing.
9. Pisco Punch
This cocktail, unlike the others on this list, was innovated very far from Peru, in the 1930’s in the United States, at the Bank Exchange bar in San Francisco. Its creator, Duncan Nicol, chose a name that represents its strength and flavor. This cocktail is prepared with pisco, pineapple juice, and lime juice.
10. Biblia (Bible)
We could say that this is the most sophisticated cocktail on the list. It was created in the middle of the last century and served at the most important hotels in the center of Lima. The drink is prepared with pisco, milk, port, cocoa cream and egg yolks. But beware of it’s smooth and mild taste! It can be quite deceitful.
