Dear Cocktail Lovers,
it is a great pleasure to see the society "growing" every day. The Quality of discussion is already fantastic. It is a must read every day.
Now I need your help. I am looking to write an "Everything" about Pisco article. So I am looking for
• Classic Pisco Cocktails (Pisco Sour ...ok ..something else? some history?)
• Modern Pisco Variation from Bars and Cocktail Lovers all over the world
◦ Please name Brands and ABV of Pisco and liqueurs you use
◦ Please name Bars and or bartenders who created this drink (Year of birth?)
• Some other Types of "How to serve pisco" - some drinking traditions?
• Which brand do you recommend? Which brands do you use in your bar? Which brands are viable in your country?
• What your opinion about pisco - is pisco an interesting spirit? Do customers like pisco?
• What kind of pisco you "know" - is there also an aged pisco style? Some I know are very expensive... do you think its worth ? Why is aged pisco an addition the the regular bar stock? should bars stock aged piscos?
• dirty one: you prefer Pisco from Peru or Chile?
Thanks for your help!
Jörg Meyer
Jorg, Here is a cocktail we were doing when we first opene. It' called a "Sour Inca"
35mls Alto de Carmen Pisco,15mls black Muscat wine,10mls fresh lime juice,10mls fresh lemon juice 10mls sugar syrup,1 egg white,shake all ingredients and strain into a small sour glass
garnish with a lemon slice
Hayds
http://thepoetryofbartending.blogspot.com/- check it out :)
Here's my two cents:
In addition to the Pisco Sour, the Pisco Punch is a must mention classic. It was invented in San Francisco in the mid-to-late 1800's. Here's the story: http://www.sunpopblue.com/Frisco-Tales/The-Secrets-of-Pisco-Punch-Revealed-The-Lost-Recipe.html
At the bar I manage in San Francisco, we have a variation on the Pisco Punch we call the Purple Rose of Pisco. It contains 1.5 oz Barsol Pisco, 1 oz Pineapple juice, .5 oz lime juice, .5 oz hibiscus gomme, 1-2 drops rose water; is shaken with ice briefly and strained into a glass with fresh ice and topped with an ounce or two of Bundaberg ginger beer. We garnish it with a purple edible orchid.
The Purple Rose of Pisco (born 2008) was created by me, Alex Smith (born 1971), and is served at Thirsty Bear Brewing Co. (born 1996) in S.F., CA, USA (www.thirstybear.com)
I prefer to use Barsol Pisco because it is the cleanest, smoothest pisco in its price range that I know of.
I have never heard of aged Pisco, but the idea intrigues me. Is this a new thing? My understanding is that Pisco is an unaged grape brandy from Peru - simple as that. It is also my understanding that when Pisco punch earned it's original reputation as ridiculously strong and deceptively easy-drinking, it was sold at cask strength. The Piscos I see now are sold at normal 40% ABV. (I believe that most or many spirits were sold at cask strength back before Prohibition - hence the birth and development of the "cocktail" to cut and tame the strong liquors.)
There is a region and city in Peru both with the name Pisco, so I am firmly in the camp that Pisco comes from Peru.
Hope this is helpful, and cheers to you!
Alex Smith
San Francisco, CA
Try this one:
Quichua
1 1/2 ounce (45ml) gin
1 1/2 ounce (45ml) pisco
1 teaspoon (5ml) simple syrup
1 dash maraschino liqueur
2 dashes orange bitters
Stir and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a lime slice.
Adapted from "El Libro Del Buen Cocktail" by Eduardo Eloy Otero (1943)
Without stepping on Mr. Wondrich's toes, the Pisco Bell-Ringer as created by Jim Maloney is a lovely Pisco drink.
Prepare a cocktail glass by rinsing it with good Apricot Brandy [MB's Apry is best, both here & everywhere]. Combine ingredients & shake well w/ cracked ice. Strain up into prepared cocktail glass & enjoy...
Little more history (& cheeky commentary can be found here.
Cheers!
Chris
Thirteenth Legion Punch (A variation on Trader Vic's 1946 rendition of Roman Punch - I did an article on the subject; here) 1 oz. Blackberry syrup¾ oz. fresh Lemon juice1 oz. Jamaican Rum (Coruba or Appleton's V/X)¾ oz. Quebranta Pisco Float of Reserva Port (Sandeman) Combine over crushed ice & swizzle. Float port & garnish w/ frozen berries of season
Fausto Cocktail (A riff on the Japanese Cocktail, using Pisco for Brandy & Horchata rather than Orgeat)2 oz. Pisco½ oz. Horchata (de Mexico) syrup¼ oz. fresh Lime juice1 dash: Peychaud’s bitters1 dash: Regan’s Orange #6 or Spiced Lemon #1 bittersShake with ice & strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a twist of fresh Lime.
These were both crafted quite some time ago by yours truly, though as noted, both are just variations on drinks of a far older pedigree, but the substitution of Pisco for Brandy is one that tends to work exceedingly well at times. Likewise, Pisco seems to (barring a few exceptions) play with drupes/stonefruits (& liquors flavored from such things) exceedingly well - hence it's affinity for Apricot & Cherry Brandies &c.
Here are a few (unmodified) classic Pisco drinks of some quality (both are from Trader Vic's 1947 Bartender's Guide):
Canario Pisco Orange 4 Teaspoons: bar Sugar1 Teaspoon: fresh Lemon juice1 oz. fresh Orange juice 1 oz. PiscoDissolve sugar in fruit juices by stirring. Add Pisco and stir *[shake please]. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. [T.V. attributes this drink to a 'Mr. Oviedo of Lima'. The sugar can & should be scaled back a bit in this - flavored sugars (vanilla, rose or lemon) work really well in this drink by-the-by].
Eden ½ oz. Pisco¼ oz. Apricot Brandy¼ oz. fresh Orange juice1 dash: fresh Lemon juiceShake with plenty of ice & strain into a chilled cocktail glass.[Just double this one, you'll want seconds]
I recently had the pleasure of visiting Peru and exploring pisco there.
- The pisco sour is only pisco cocktail to be truly ubiquitous in Peru. The 'Capitan' is also pretty popular (basically a pisco Manhattan), and you will also see pisco and coke, pisco and ginger beer, and so on. One interesting one is pisco with some kind of herbal/vegetable extract. I need to go back into my notes and find what this one was called. Sorry, but notebook is in my car. . . For other pisco cocktails, a personal favorite is the Dulchin. From memory it is 3/4 oz lime juice, 3/4 oz dry apricot brandy (i.e. eau de vie), 1 1/2 oz pisco, 1 tsp grenadine, 2 tsp grand marnier. It is harmlessly pink, but has a very edgy flavor,
- On 'how to serve pisco'. . . in Peru they drink the pricier stuff straight.
- Biondi (spelling?) is a popular and well regarded brand in Peru. It seems to be one of the most widely distributed 'top shelf' pisco options. However, they are just *so* many brands out there. The pisco aisle in a Peruvian supermarket is freaking ridiculous! Also, Peruvians are incredibly knowledgable about pisco. Practically anyone seems to be able to discuss brands, grape varieties, all that sort of thing.
- I absolutely love pisco.
- I have never tried an aged pisco, despite looking high and low for one. If such a thing exists it is very much a minority product.
- I never went to Chile to try pisco, so most of my experience is with Peruvian. I think I vastly prefer the Peruvian stuff, though having said that I am pretty sure the Chilean stuff is smoother on average.
I guess this response is a little incoherent but hopefully it helps a little.
One further note. . .
I don't think the Pisco Punch is part of repetoire of Peruvian drinks. I saw it only very occasionally in Peru, and then in more trendy and touristy type of restaurants/bars. I'd guess it was recently introduced (reintroduced?) to Peru as part of the cocktail craze.
Hey Jorg,
In my last bar (Raoul's, Oxford, UK) the GM there (Tim Fitz-Gibbon) had a drink of his on the menu called a "PISCOTEQUE". It was made with Aba Pisco, lemon juice, chambord, red wine (Nero de Avola) and pureed pear. I can't remember the proportions (the raoul's email is bartender@raoulsbar.com if you want to check). It's a great drink and one of my favourite name's for a cocktail using Pisco!
Cheers...
Rob
From Tokio to Lima
50 ml Honjozu Sake
20ml Occucaje Pisco Puro Quebranta
30ml lemon juice
20ml simple (2:1)
1/2 egg white
Shake & Strain into a Campari-dust rimmed Coupette, add three drops of Peychad Bitters onto drink.
In my opinion Pisco is a fairly underrated white spirit, which is much more versatile than to be limited on the Pisco Sour. It works well with the vegetal notes of sake, but hell, try it as a substitute for Gin in a Southside or an Aviation, yummy stuff as well.
I did have the pleasure to taste aged Pisco from Chile but I think it's best with all its ruff edges as a white and unaged spirit.
Hi Jörg,
Just saw this thread, I hope some of the following is still useful.
Regarding classic pisco cocktails. If pisco sour is Nº1, there´s no doubt about these would be Nº 2 and 3 respectively
"Cocktail de Algarrobina" (algarrobina cocktail): Pisco 1 1/2 oz, "algarrobina" syrup (*) 1/2 oz, evaporated milk 1/2 oz, and roughly 1/2 eggyolk, shake hard and strain in cocktail glass, sprinkle with cinnamon.
Regarded usually as a "ladies drink", algarrobina cocktail is served along with the pisco sour in peruvian social gatherings. A funny thing is that many caterers use to send the waiters with trays filled with both drinks and the waiters, in turn, use to offer gentlemen the "pisco sour side" and ladies the "algarrobina side" of the tray. The drink is really "creamy" and in fact has some resemblance with Bayley´s (no wonder peruvian men say it´s a ladies drink ) Some people use to add sugar or even substitute condensed (sweet) milk for the evaporated, but the results are too sweet for many drinkers.
(*) A very viscous syrup made from the fruits (algarrobas) of the "algarrobo" tree (AKA Huarango, in Peru, Bot. Prosopis Pallida.) Syrup of Alagarroba is also made in other southamerican countries, but peruvian is thicker and darker. Most of the algarrobos and the "algarrobina" industry is located now in the northern province of Piura (1000 km from the pisco producing area, but there were plenty of these trees nearby Ica and Pisco. Unfortunately now is an endangered specie in that area... Aparently pisco distillers used intensibly the wood as fuel for their stills in the past.
"Chilcano" (this could mean the drink comes from "Chilca", a small city 180km from Pisco, but I´ve found no further evidence of this, but the name itself): 1 1/2 oz pisco, slices of lime (some add also a little juice), ginger ale and couple of dashes Angostura. Build in collins glass full of cubes.
This is truly the most traditional and widespread pisco "refreshment" in Peru.
There´s a lot of modern pisco drinks being invented these days, but maybe a curious note is that peruvian bartenders seem to be stuck to the pisco sour and endless variations with local fruits, liqueurs or herbs, there´s even a "Coca Sour" (pisco sour using coca leaves). Some people could expect that, having Peru so great culinary tradition, an amazing variety of tropical fruits and fresh ingredients. And peruvian bartenders having so much experience with pisco, one could find a huge variety of new and surprising pisco cocktails there. But only with few exceptions, one can only find "pisco sours this" and "pisco sours that".
Maybe this is the combined results of a exaggerate focus on Pisco Sour from the media and producers (*) and a very old fashioned way of mixology there, I don´t know. Maybe these next years we´ll see the next big pisco thing coming from Peru, only a happy thought.
(*) There´s even yearly-based cocktail comps based ONLY in pisco sour... Robert must remember a comment posted in his Pisco Sour video, made by a peruvian bartender self proclaimed "x times pisco sour champion". Well, his claim is actually true, but hey guys, please move on to the next thing!)
A very old tradition still in use among families in the pisco area is to serve a glass of special reserve pisco to all visitors (mostly in the country side) and young peruvians use to make "fortified" beer with pisco. Not in the same way as the mexicans do the "submarino", but throwing a glass of pisco into a beer jug, and there are several bar games with a glass of pure pisco involved as a "punishment", but as some could expect, traditional drinkers use to drink their pisco neat.
Brands I use in a regular basis are "Don Cesar" from Tacna (their "acholado" is just amazing), Biondi from Moquegua (Mostly their "Italia", unanimously regarded as best of the best) and Ocucaje (from Ica, one of the most traditional brands.) I´m very lucky to have relatives in Peru, because peruvian pisco supply in Argentina is sadly scarce. Just a year ago you could find only "Pisco Vargas"... Not a good one indeed.
Fortunately, this last year "Viñas de Oro" was introduced in Buenos Aires (not in Cordoba yet). One of the new brands appearing in the peruvian market. Good quality and interesting and modern looks, but a little expensive ($30) if you think here in Argentina it´s chilean counterparts cost half its price ($15, Capel Moai.)
Talking about chilean piscos in Argentina, the only brand you can find everywhere is Capel, with Control coming and going from the market, and most expensive brands only found in specialized stores in Buenos Aires.
Young drinkers in Argentina are certainly intrigued by pisco, fascinated by the lore of the pisco sour and motivated by the antagonism between Peru and Chile (working as a real trigger to consumption: "If those guys are arguing about that stuff, it must be real good") But somehow disapointed with the "burnt grape" (and in the case of chilean... "woody") notes of pisco in the "tropical, juicy pisco drinks" most bartenders use to mix for them (oh yes, there´s no ginger ale here in Argentina, to work pisco in a chilcano)
I think the big mistake here is trying to work with pisco as it was no more than "grape juice with alcohol" and try to hide those mentioned notes. Once a friend of mine, owner of a popular bar here in Cordoba told me an obvious truth: "There´ll be no chances for pisco to become popular here, until you find a pisco drink capable to seduce local drinkers". Well, even when the cocktail culture is growing steadily in Argentina, cocktail drinkers here are not that sophisticated as their counterparts in northern countries, so if this drink is going to be developed in the next few years, must be a tall, fruity drink, highlighting the best attributes of pisco, combined with fresh and fruity flavours.
Aged Pisco could only be produced in Chile. Peruvian legislation says NO to aging. A point to be aware of, is that most chilean pisco producers use (legally) wooden chips and caramel in their products. I think this could not the case in Europe, where only the most expensive brands are getting to these markets.
And about the dirty one: There are certainly good chilean piscos, in their way. And also cheap nasty peruvian products sold as pisco. But going to the best of both countries, there´s nothing in Chile that matches the best peruvian piscos.
Salud!
Ps: Bunnyhugs is right: Pisco Punch was NEVER a traditional peruvian pisco drink. There´s certainly some sort of pisco-punch-craze in peruvian bars, but is all related with the famous San Francisco Pisco Punch... A drink peruvians discovered half a decade ago, mostly thanks to Guillermo Toro Lira, local chef and historian Jose Schiaffino, and off course Mr. David Wondrich.