Pisco Sour - How to Make the Classic Drink & the History Behind It

Here's an easy way to make the classic cocktail, the Pisco Sour, a combination of Pisco, Lime Juice, Simple Syrup, Egg White and Aromatic Bitters. It was a hit with American tourists in South America and it was championed by Dale Degroff in the Aughties, but it’s lineage is frustratingly elusive.
The most common story is that it was invented by an American ex-pat living in Peru named Vic Morris, who set up a bar in 1916 that mostly catered to English-speaking tourists. However, the full story is a little more complicated.
A recipe for the Pisco Sour was printed in a 1903 Peruvian cookbook. They had the ingredients (minus the bitters), but not the name. It may not be the origin of the drink, but the drink existed in Peru long before Morris got there
Even though Morris had the drink on his menu, he supposedly never claimed to have invented the drink. Besides, in 1924 a local, Peruvian, English-language newspaper, The West Coast Leader, did not credit Morris with the invention of the Pisco Sour, but rather bars in San Francisco.
The paper did not offer any evidence or specifics to back up their claim, but San Francisco and Pisco go back to the 1830’s. And during the Gold Rush, the Bank Exchange Saloon was famous for their drink, the Pisco Punch.
The most likely scenario for the drink’s origin, was that it was just the inevitable result of using Pisco in the well-established template of the fill-in-the-blank Sour. So like the Brandy Sour and Whiskey Sour, which date back to the 1860’s, and the egg white Sours, which start showing up in print in 1883, the Pisco Sour was just the eventual outcome of bartenders with a template and a new spirit.
It seems that part of the reason Morris had the reputation for inventing the drink was because some of his protégés would later go on to run the bar programs and well-known tourist destinations like The Lima Country Club and the Hotel Bolívar, where stars like Ava Gardner, John Wayne, Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway were known to imbibe Pisco Sours.
You’ll sometimes see this one made in the blender. If that’s how you roll, go for it. I like to shake it, but I guess if I was making a huge batch for a party or something, the blender would really come in handy.
In terms of the bitters, be sure to use a dropper if you have one. It’s important to get the bitters on top of the drink and not in the drink. You want the bitters to be the first impression on the nose and almost more importantly, you don’t want the egg white to give off that funky, wet dog smell that some eggs have.
Most times you’ll see this one made with Angostura and if that’s what you have on hand, it will make for an excellent drink, but if you can, it’s really fun to make it with the Peruvian, Chuncho Bitters. They have a really different nose to them. It’s not as citrusy as Ango. It has a heavy baking spices aroma that somehow results in giving the drink a light earthy, almost woodsy note to it. It’s worth picking up a bottle if just for this drink. Enjoy!
Recipe:
2 oz (60 ml) Pisco
0.75 oz (22 ml) Lime Juice
0.75 oz (22 ml) Simple Syrup
6 drops Chuncho Bitters (or Angostura)
Egg White
Dry shake (without ice) all ingredients. Add ice, then shake again. Strain into a chilled rocks glass. Add 5-6 drops of bitters on top.
Music:
Perseguido Por Un Charango Pt. 3 by Martin Carlberg
via Epidemic Sound
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Featured in this Episode:
Capurro Pisco
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Amargo Chuncho Bitters
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Angostura Bitters
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Imbibe! by David Wondrich
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Drinking the Devil's Acre: A Love Letter from San Francisco and her Cocktails by Duggan McDonnell
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Bar Tools:
Schott Zwiesel Old Fashioned Glass (9.6 oz)
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Japanese Style Jigger (Gunmetal Black)
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Hawthorne Strainer (Gunmetal Black)
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Koriko Weighted Shaker Set
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Fine Mesh Strainer
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Dropper Bottle
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Cuisinart Citrus Juicer
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Cutting Board
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Small Knife
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