The Pisco Sour Recipe

Posted in Brandy on March 5, 2014

The name of the cocktail refers to the Chilean and Peruvian type of brandy known as pisco and to the fact that the drink contains a mix of sweet and sour aromas from the lime juice and a sweetener. The history of the Pisco Sour is pretty controversial. Just as it is the case with the pisco, both the Chileans and the Peruvians are claiming ownership of the recipe. Both Chile and Peru declared that the Pisco Sour is their national drink and the Peruvians are also holding a yearly celebration in the honor of this cocktail.

Even though the Chile-Peru dispute seems unsolvable, there are certain differences between the Chilean and the Peruvian version of the Pisco Sour. The Peruvian version contains egg white and bitters while these ingredients are not used in Chile. More than that, each country uses its own type of pisco. This is also a matter of debate because both countries claim to have invented pisco in the first place.

The Pisco Sour is very easy to make at home and you can try whatever version you like most. The Peruvian recipe with the egg white is indeed more impressive than the Chilean one because it creates a nice and foamy layer on top of the cocktail glass. On the other hand, if you have something against egg whites, you can eliminate this ingredient together with the bitters and prepare a Chilean Pisco Sour. Whatever version you choose, you’ll obtain a very refreshing drink with a tart flavor. This is very important for the success of the recipe. Some bartenders use lemon juice instead of lime juice, but this is probably a mistake because the Spanish word for limes is limones. At some point, this might have been wrongly translated as lemons. However, the recipe calls for key limes instead.

There are numerous variations of the Pisco Sour all across Latin America. Once you learn to prepare the basic one, you can research the others and see if any of them sound appealing.

How to Prepare the Pisco Sour

You need the following ingredients:

• 3 oz. of pisco.
• 1 oz. of key lime juice.
• 1 oz. of simple syrup.
• 2-3 dashes of angostura bitters.
• 1 egg white.
• Ice.

Put all the ingredients except the angostura bitters in the shaker and fill with ice. Shake them well in order to obtain a foamy top layer when you pour them in the glass. Use an old-fashioned glass, strain the drink into it and add the dashes of angostura bitters.

These ingredients are enough for two small cocktails or a large one.