What is pisco?
As a distilled grape wine spirit, pisco is essentially brandy, which is light yellow to clear in colour and produced in both Chile and Peru. The palate provides fresh grape flavours with a touch of sweetness and is highly aromatic. Its history dates to the 16th-century where Spanish settlers developed the spirit as an alternative to orujo, an imported brandy from Spain.
How is it made?
Pisco is made by fermenting grape juice into a wine. It is then run through a still where it develops into a spirit.
Unlike the Peruvian variety, Chilean pisco can be run through the still many times to produce a higher alcohol content, therefore some piscos from this region may be diluted. It is then aged for a minimum of 3 months in Peru or 2 months in Chile.
While glass and metal vessels are used for both the Chilean and Peruvian ageing process, Chilean pisco may also be stored in wood or ceramic. Peruvian law allows pisco to be made from one of the five official destinations of Lima, Inca, Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna. In Chile, each distillery is required to grow their own grapes, with the accepted varieties of Muscat, Torontel, Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel de Asturia.
How do you drink it?
You can drink pisco in a variety of ways that you would any spirit, straight, on the rocks, or with a mixer. The favourite way, however, is the famous pisco sour. Give our recipe a go and raise your glass to this delicious drink.
Serves one
Ingredients
- 60ml Pisco
- 30 ml Fresh Pressed Lime Juice
- 20 ml Sugar Syrup
- Egg White
- Dash of Bitters
Method
Place ice in serving glass to chill.
Add egg white to cocktail shaker with one cube of ice and shake.
Add pisco, lime and sugar syrup and more ice to egg and shake.
Remove ice from serving glass and strain cocktail.
Garnish with dash of bitters and enjoy, mi amigo.
¡Salud!
