Pisco Sour
The sour that belongs to two countries
Grape brandy, lime and sugar under a white cap of foam, with three drops of bitters set into it.
- Classic
- Sour
- Pisco
- Shaken
- Short
- Citrus
- Aperitivo
- Peruvian
Pisco Golden Hour
Coupe · No ice
DIngredients
- Pisco60 ml
- Lime juice, freshly squeezed30 ml
- Simple Syrup20 ml
- Egg white1 egg
Garnish
- Angostura bitters · dusted3 drops
Method
- 01
Add the pisco, lime juice, sugar syrup and egg white to a shaker with no ice.
- 02
Shake hard to build the foam.
No ice at this stage. Ice now gives a thin head that collapses.
- 03
Add ice and shake again to chill and dilute.
- 04
To finish
Fine strain into a chilled coupe and let the foam set.
- 05
To finish
Set three drops of bitters onto the foam at the table.
They are meant to be looked at before the drink is touched.
House notes
Dry shake first, with no ice at all, to build the foam; then shake again with ice to chill and dilute it. Doing it in one go with ice gives a thin, bubbled head that collapses before it reaches the table. Put the drops on the foam at the table, not in the kitchen.
Straight up in a chilled coupe, no ice in the glass. The drops go on last and are meant to be looked at.
Perfectly paired
- Ceviche · The obvious one, and it is obvious for a reason.
- Grilled prawns
Where it comes from
Victor Morris · Lima, PE · Disputed
The evidence for the cocktail points to Lima. Victor Morris, an American who ran Morris' Bar there, is commonly named in connection with it in the 1920s, and a closely related Peruvian recipe of pisco, egg white, lime and sugar was published in Lima as early as 1903 without carrying the name. Neither a single inventor nor a date for the modern formulation is settled, and the drink appears to have evolved rather than been invented at one moment. A separate and louder argument between Peru and Chile concerns pisco itself and national ownership of the drink; that dispute is real, and it is not the same question as where this cocktail comes from.
Please enjoy responsibly.