After a long arduous day on the slopes, the pisco sour鈥攁 frothy, limey (or sometimes lemony) cocktail vaguely akin to a smooth, potent margarita鈥 is perfect for post-skiing relaxation.聽
The pisco sour came to be at Morris鈥 Bar in Lima, Peru, in the early 1900s. That鈥檚 where an American bartender named swapped pisco, a South American brandy distilled from fermented grape juice, for whiskey when making a whiskey sour.聽
The riff was an instant hit. 鈥淸It] was amazing and the people didn’t want to drink [sours] with whiskey anymore,鈥 says , a Peruvian pisco expert and mixologist. From there, the cocktail spread from bar to bar, getting adapted into dozens of varieties and recipes.聽
Case in point: Carpio, who is based in Ica, Peru, shakes his pisco sours with simple syrup, fresh-squeezed Peruvian limes, pisco, and egg white. At the Hotel Portillo in Portillo, Chile, longtime bartender Jaime Cantillano skips the egg white and makes his with powdered sugar, pisco, and fresh lemon juice. Both concoctions are shaken with ice and strained into a cocktail glass. (Of note, Carpio says that using Peruvian limes is critical, but as the fruit isn鈥檛 easily obtained in other parts of the world, Key limes are a close approximation.)
To sip a pisco sour is to enter into an international debate: Does Peru or Chile claim the rights to pisco? The official answer, according to a 2013 ruling by the European Commission, is that pisco originated in Peru. In reality, however, the debate still rages. Whenever Justin Walker Cochran, the former national ambassador for Kappa Pisco, a now defunct Chilean brand, weighs in, he relies on the following points: 鈥淭here were no grapes in South America before the 16th century when Spanish conquistadors arrived. All of South America got grapes at the same time,鈥 he explains. 鈥淐hile established their D.O. [Denominaci贸n de Origen] in 1931. It wasn鈥檛 until 1991 that Peru decided it needed a D.O. Wherever the line was drawn, I leave it to those historical facts.鈥
Depending on whether you鈥檙e drinking Peruvian or Chilean pisco, there are notable differences: Peruvian is always clear (it鈥檚 aged in stainless steel), distilled only once, and can be made from eight grape varietals. Chilean pisco can be aged in barrels and distilled multiple times, and it鈥檚 made from 14 different grapes. In either case, you鈥檒l typically find three types: pisco puro (made with a single varietal and distilled when the wine is dry), pisco acholado (made from a blend of varietals or a blend of piscos), and mosto verde (made from a blend of varietals while the wine is still sweet). For all intents and purposes, most pisco sours are made with puro, though you will find some recipes calling for acholado.
But, after a day on the slopes, dear skier, all you really need to know is that pisco is delicious and strong enough to cure any aches and pains. And while there are a multitude of pisco sour recipes out there, Carpio, who teaches cocktail classes in Peru (and has several YouTube videos), stands by his recipe.
Bonus recipe: For his part, Cochran encourages pisco fans to try Pisco Punch. The cocktail not only predates the pisco sour and contains no egg white, but it was also created at the Bank Exchange in San Francisco when the port city was in its heyday in the 1880s.聽
Get the recipes: Apr猫s-Pico Sour and Pisco Punch