Pisco Punch
San Francisco's Gold Rush punch.
Pisco, pineapple, lemon and cloves, finished with a splash of dry white wine. Fruity and spiced, it recalls the legendary drink of late nineteenth-century San Francisco saloons.
- IBA · New Era
- Long drink
- Shaken
- Glass
- Goblet
- Method
- Shaken
- Strength
- Medium
- Time
- 4 min
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Ice
- No ice
Ingredients
Measures for 1 serving
-
Simple syrup
15 ml
-
Cloves
3
-
Pisco
60 ml
-
Pineapple juice
22.5 ml
-
Lemon juice
15 ml
-
Dry white wine
30 ml
Proportions
How to make
- Pour the simple syrup into a shaker.
- Gently muddle the cloves in the syrup.
- Add the pisco.
- Add the pineapple juice.
- Add the lemon juice.
- Shake vigorously with ice.
- Double strain into a large goblet.
- Top with the white wine.
- Stir gently.
- Serve without garnish.
The story
Origins
ProbableA plausible account, without definitive proof.
The Pisco Punch is tied to the Bank Exchange and Billiard Saloon, an elegant bar opened in 1853 in San Francisco's Montgomery Block, where pisco arrived by ship from Peru. The drink became famous under Duncan Nicol, a Scottish-born bartender who took over the bar in the late nineteenth century and jealously guarded the recipe; who actually invented it is unknown. Rudyard Kipling praised it in 'From Sea to Sea', and its fame drew travellers from everywhere. Prohibition forced Nicol to close in 1919; when he died in 1926, newspapers wrote that the secret had died with him. Versions of the recipe were published only decades later.
Sources (4)
- IBA — Pisco Punch (opens in a new tab) recipe
- KQED — Pisco Punch, the pricey San Francisco cocktail that was a Gold Rush knock-out (opens in a new tab) history
- Wikipedia — Pisco punch (opens in a new tab) history
- Alcademics — 100 years ago: Duncan Nicol dies, takes Pisco Punch recipe to the grave (opens in a new tab) history
Taste profile
- Citrus
- 3 out of 5
- Fruity
- 3 out of 5
- Sweet
- 2 out of 5
- Spicy
- 2 out of 5
- Dry
- 1 out of 5
