Pisco Sour

Citrus, silk, Peruvian soul.

Pisco, lemon, sugar and egg white shaken into a velvety foam, perfumed with drops of bitters. Fresh and aromatic, it is Peru's national cocktail, also claimed by Chile.

IBA · Contemporary Classics
Aperitif
Shaken

Glass: Goblet
Method: Shaken
Strength: Medium
Time: 3 min
Difficulty: Medium
Ice: No ice

Ingredients

Servings 1

Pisco 60 ml
Lemon juice 30 ml
Simple syrup 20 ml
Egg white 1

Garnish

Drops of Amargo bitters

Proportions

How to make

Chill a goblet.
Pour the pisco into a shaker.
Add the lemon juice.
Add the simple syrup.
Add the egg white.
Shake hard with ice.
Strain into the chilled goblet.
Finish with a few dashes of Amargo on the foam.

The story

Origins

ProbableA plausible account, without definitive proof.

The most widely accepted attribution goes to Victor Vaughen Morris, an American from Salt Lake City who came to Peru in the early 1900s and opened Morris' Bar in Lima on 1 April 1916. Family lore says he swapped whiskey for pisco at a railway celebration. In 1921 the Peruvian magazine Mundial ran an advertisement crediting the invention to 'Mister Morris', yet as early as 1903 a Lima Creole cookbook printed a 'Cocktail' of pisco, egg white, sugar and lime. The bitters on top were reportedly added later, perhaps by Mario Bruiget, a former Morris employee. The Chilean claim crediting Elliot Stubb in Iquique in 1872 is considered unfounded.

Sources (7)

Taste profile

Citrus: 4 out of 5
Sour: 4 out of 5
Creamy: 3 out of 5
Sweet: 2 out of 5