Pisco sour

Pisco Sour

Cocktail
Peruvian Pisco Sour
Type	Cocktail
Base spirit	Pisco
Served	Straight up: chilled, without ice
Standard drinkware	Old fashioned glass
Commonly used ingredients	2 fl oz (8 parts) Pisco 1 fl oz (4 parts) Lime juice 3/4 fl oz (3 part) Simple syrup 1 Egg white 1 dash Bitters
Preparation	Shake hard or blend with ice and strain into glass. The bitters are an aromatic garnish topping the finished drink, put on top of pisco sour foam.
Recipe adapted from The Joy of Mixology by Gary Regan

A Pisco Sour is a cocktail typical of western South American cuisine. The drink's name is a mixture of the Quechua word Pisco ([Bird] Error: {{Lang-xx}}: text has italic markup (help)) and the term Sour (in reference to the mixed drink family of the same name). The Peruvian Pisco Sour requires the use of Peruvian Pisco as the base liquor and the addition of lime (or lemon) juice, syrup, ice, egg white, and Angostura bitters. The Chilean version is similar, but uses Chilean Pisco, sugar instead of syrup, and excludes the bitter. Other variants of the cocktail include those created with fruits like pineapple or plants such as coca leaves.

Both Chile and Peru claim ownership of the Pisco Sour and denominate it their national drink. Peru considers that both Pisco and the Pisco Sour should be considered exclusively Peruvian. However, Chile contests this claim and, in turn, also claims ownership over both alcoholic beverages. Partially as a result of this controversy, the Pisco Sour holds international attention as a topic of popular culture.

Etymology

The term Pisco Sour is made up of two word components, Sour and Pisco. Sour refers to mixed drinks which contain a base liquor (bourbon or whiskey), lemon or lime juice, egg white, and a sweetener. Common sweeteners are triple sec, simple syrup, grenadine, and pineapple juice. Pisco is a Quechua word which means "bird." Chilean linguist Rodolfo Lenz claims that the word was used all along the Pacific coast of the Americas, from the Arauco Province in Chile to Guatemala. Nonetheless, Mario Ferreccio Podesta, another Chilean linguist, disputes the Quechua origin of the word and claims that the term pisco originates from mud containers used to transport the drink.

Regardless of the meaning of the name, the word as applied to the alcoholic beverage comes from the Peruvian port of Pisco. In the book Latin America and the Caribbean, historian Olwyn Blouet and political geographer Brian Blouet describe the development of vineyards in early Colonial Peru and how "in the second half of the sixteenth century" a market for the liquor formed thanks to the demand from growing mining settlements in the Andes. Subsequent demand for a stronger drink caused Pisco and the nearby city of Ica to establish distilleries "to make wine into brandy," and the product ended up receiving the name of the port from where it was distilled and exported. This definition of the Pisco beverage's name as originary from the Peruvian port has also been accepted by institutions such as the Real Academia Española and the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.

History

Background

See also: Pisco

The Plaza de Toros de Acho (Lima), the oldest bullring in the Americas, where the drink ancestor to the Pisco Sour was sold.

The first grapevines brought to Peru came from the Canary Islands in the sixteenth century. Spanish chroniclers from the time note that the first vinification in South America took place in the hacienda Marcahuasi of Cuzco. Spaniards from Andalucia and Extremadura introduced grapevines into Chile during the sixteenth century. The right to produce and market Pisco, still made in Peru and Chile, is subject to disputes between both countries.

According to historian Luciano Revoredo, the preparation of Pisco with lemon dates as far back as the eighteenth century. He bases his claim on a source he found in the Mercurio Peruano which details the prohibition of aguardiente in Lima's Plaza de Toros de Acho, the oldest bullring in the Americas. At this time the drink was named Punche (English: Punch), and was sold by slaves. Revoredo further argues that this drink served as the predecessor for the Californian Pisco punch, invented by Duncan Nicol in the Bank Exchange Bar of San Francisco in the United States.

Origin

One of the oldest known Pisco Sour advertisement from Morris' Bar.

The origin of the Pisco Sour is disputed. Both Chile and Peru lay claim to the drink. Most accounts state that it originated in Lima, Peru. It was created by the American bartender Victor Vaughn Morris in the early 1920s. Morris was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. In 1903, he traveled to Peru to work as a cashier for the Cerro de Pasco Railway Company. Then, in 1915, he moved to Lima and, on April 1, 1916, founded Morris' Bar. The saloon served as a gathering spot for the Peruvian Upper class and English-speaking foreigners. According to Peruvian researcher Guillermo Toro-Lira, among the notable individuals who attented Morris' Bar were Elmer Faucett (founder of the Faucett Perú airline), José Lindley (founder of the Corporación José R. Lindley S.A. and Inca Kola), Alfred L. Kroeber (notable cultural anthropologist), and Richard Halliburton (a notable adventurer and cultural ambassador to Peru).

Morris' Bar, located in Boza street (close to the Plaza Mayor of Lima), served as a center of drink experimentation for Morris. Nicknamed Gringo, Victor Morris created the Pisco Sour as a variety of the Whiskey Sour, an alcholic beverage whose origin could be the former Peruvian city of Iquique (prior to its annexation by Chile in 1883). Some discrepancy exists on the exact date when Morris made the popular cocktail. Mixologist Dale DeGroff claims the drink was invented in 1915, but most other sources argue that this happened in the 1920s. The Chilean newspaper El Mercurio specifically stated that historians attribute the year of the drink's invention as 1922, adding that "according to historians [...] Morris one night surprised his friends with a new drink he called Pisco Sour, a formula which mixes the Peruvian Pisco with the American Sour."

The original recipe of the Pisco Sour, as invented by Morris, has not yet been found. According to Toro-Lira, "it is assumed that it was a crude mix of Pisco with lime juice and sugar, as it was the whiskey sour of those days". Part of the reason the cocktail's original recipe has not been found is because it kept changing, albeit it seems for the better, as the bar's registry shows customers commented on the continuously improving taste of the drink. The last version of the cocktail's recipe was developed by Mario Bruiget, a Peruvian from Chincha Alta who worked under the apprenticeship of Morris starting on July 16, 1924. Bruiget's recipe added the Angostura bitters and egg whites to the mix.

The Pisco Sour attained rapid popularity. In his book Bitters, author Brad Thomas Parsons writes that "the registry at the Morris Bar was filled with high praise from visitors who raved about the signature drink". Toro-Lira states that in 1924, with the aid of Nelson Rounsevell (a friend Morris made in Cerro de Pasco), the bar advertised its locale and invention in Valparaiso, Chile. The advertisement featured in the Valparaiso newspaper South Pacific Mail, owned by Rounsevell, was thought to be the oldest known mention of the Pisco Sour. In 2005, César Coloma Porcari, historian and former president of the Latin American Institute of Culture and Development, discovered the oldest known mention of the Pisco Sour in the April 22, 1921, edition of the Peruvian magazine Mundial. In the magazine, not only is the Pisco Sour described a white-colored beverage, but its invention is attributed to "Mister Morris". Tatiana Perich, from Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, comments that by 1927 Morris' Bar had attained widspread notability for its cocktails. During this time, as a result of worsening health, Morris delegated most of the bartending to his employees.

Competition from nearby bars and Victor Morris' declining health led to the decline and ultimate fall of his enterprise. The Hotel Bolivar (inaugurated on December 6, 1924) and Hotel Lima Country Club (inaugurated on February 1927) were among the nearby competitors whose bars took clientele away from Morris' Bar. In his investigation, Guillermo Toro-Lira discovered that Morris accused four of his former bartenders of intellectual property theft after they left to work in one of these competing establishments. In 1929, Morris declared voluntary bankruptcy and closed his saloon. A few months later, on June 11, Victor Vaughn Morris died of cirrhosis.

Aftermath

The Hotel Bolivar was among the several Lima hotels which kept alive the Pisco Sour cocktail after the closure of Morris' Bar.

During the 1930s the drink made its way into Californian bars of the United States, reaching as far north as the city of San Francisco. Back in Peru, Lima hotels continued the Pisco Sour cocktail tradition. After Victor Morris closed down his bar in 1929, Mario Bruiget found work as a bartender for the nearby Grand Hotel Maury. Bruiget took along with him his Pisco Sour recipe. The success of Bruiget in his new job apparently caused local Limean oral tradition to erroneously associate the Hotel Maury with the origin of the Pisco Sour. Historian César Coloma Porcari adds that other former apprentices of Morris continued to spread the Pisco Sour recipe as they went to work to different bars and establishments.

Beatriz Jiménez, journalist from the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, writes that "the luxurious hotels Bolivar and Maury, witnesses to the splendor of Lima during the 1940s, adopted the Pisco Sour as their own." During the 1940s and 1950s an oil bonanza in Peru attracted foreign attention to the country. In Lima, the Pisco Sour received attention from Hollywood stars such as Orson Welles and John Wayne, who drank the cocktail sold in the Hotel Bolivar and the Hotel Maury. Jiménez recollected oral traditions which tell that Ava Gardner, after drinking too many Pisco Sours, had to be carried away by John Wayne. Additionally, Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles are said to have been big fans of "that Peruvian drink."

In 1984, Bolivian journalist Ted Córdova Claure wrote that the Hotel Bolivar stood as "a monument to the decadence of Peruvian oligarchy." However, he still noted the locale as the "traditional home of the Pisco Sour" and recommended it as "one of the best hotels in Lima." Nowadays, the Hotel Bolivar continues to offer the cocktail in its "El Bolivarcito" bar, while the Country Club Lima Hotel offers the drink in its "Bar Ingles" saloon.

Preparation and variants

File:Pancho fierro el que trae aguardiente de Ica.jpg

Pisco transported in pisco bottles from Ica, Peru. Watercolor painting by Afro-Peruvian artist Pancho Fierro.

The preparation of the Pisco Sour differs between the Peruvian and Chilean versions of the cocktail. The Peruvian Pisco Sour cocktail is made by mixing Peruvian Pisco with lime juice, simple syrup, egg white, Angostura bitters (for garnish), and ice cubes. The Chilean Pisco Sour cocktail is made by mixing Chilean Pisco with lemon juice, powdered sugar, egg white, and ice cubes. According to Mark Spivak, food and wine expert, "there are significant differences between the two [Pisco] versions. Chilean pisco is mass-produced and can be adulterated before bottling; the Peruvian spirit is made in small batches in pot stills, and cannot be altered in any way before reaching the consumer."

Variations to the Pisco Sour exist in Peru and Chile. In Peru, additional variations of the Pisco Sour can be found which use fruits such as maracuya, aguaymanto, and apples, or traditional ingredients such the coca leaf. In Chile, different spin-offs of the Pisco Sour recipe can be found, such as the Ají Sour (with a spicy green chili), Mango Sour (with mango juice), and Sour de Campo (with ginger and honey).

Similar cocktails to the Pisco Sour include the Chilean Piscola and the Peruvian Algarrobina Cocktail. Piscola is made by mixing Pisco with Coca-Cola. The Algarrobina Cocktail is made from Pisco, condensed milk, and sap from the Peruvian algarroba tree. Another similar cocktail, from the United States, is the Californian Pisco punch, originally made with Peruvian Pisco, pineapples, and lemon.

• 
  Aguaymanto Sour
• 
  Algarrobina Cocktail
• 
  Chilean Pisco Sour
• 
  Peruvian Pisco Sour
• Piscola
  Piscola

Nationality dispute

See also: Chile–Peru relations

Chile disputes the national origin of Pisco Sour with Peru. The controversy stems from the work of Chilean historian Oreste Plath who, in his book Folklore lingüístico chileno, attributes the invention of the Pisco Sour to Elliot Stubb, an English steward from a sailing ship named "Sunshine". According to Plath, whom used as a source the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio de Iquique, Elliot Stubb obtained leave to disembark in the port of Iquique in 1872, with the aim of settling in the city and opening a bar. In his bar he supposedly invented the Pisco Sour while experimenting with drinks.

However, Peruvian researcher Guillermo Toro-Lira argues that Plath's story "has been recently refuted when it was found that the original historical source, the newspaper El Comercio de Iquique, was mentioning instead the alleged invention of the whiskey sour and not of the Pisco Sour." This claim is further certified by the University of Cuyo, located in Argentina, which in 1962 published the story of Elliot Stubb and his alleged invention of the Whiskey Sour while working in Iquique. Additionally, notable Chilean historian Gonzalo Vial Correa also attributed the Pisco Sour's invention to Gringo Morris from the Peruvian Morris Bar, but with the minor difference of presenting his name as William Morris.

Despite the evidence, the disputes continue between Chile and Peru. In 2003, Peru created an official government holiday denominated as the "Día Nacional del Pisco Sour" (English: National Pisco Sour Day) for celebration on February 8. The Chilean Pisco industry retaliated by announcing its creation of the non-government sponsored "Día de la piscola" (English: Piscola Day), and also set it for celebration on February 8. Nonetheless, Chilean businessman Alberto Mois defended the unofficial holiday by claiming that "Piscola is by tradition the most common manner to drink Pisco in Chile. Nearly 90% of product consumption is done with Coca-Cola or white beverages." Peru responded by changing its Pisco Sour holiday to the first saturday of February.

Popularity

Argentine president Cristina Fernández and then Peruvian president Alan García toast with a Peruvian Pisco Sour.

• The comedian Zane Lamprey, host of the show Three Sheets, filmed an episode in Chile which featured various beverages, including Pisco Sour which aired in 2009.
• In an episode of his Travel Channel program No Reservations, American celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain drank a Pisco Sour at the Valparaiso restaurant "La Playa" in Chile. He later expressed his disgust for the drink, to the point that at Puerto Varas he chose to drink white wine after being offered another Pisco Sour. Jorge López, the episode's Chilean producer and Bourdain's travel partner in Chile, explained that chef Bourdain found the Pisco Sour he drank in Valparaiso as "boring and worthless". Lopez added that chef Bourdain had just recently arrived from Peru, where he drank and enjoyed several Pisco Sours, which he thought were better tasting than the Chilean versions. A Chilean critic, Enrique Rivera, countered that chef Bourdain is a celebrity who generalizes the quality of a country's food by tasting only at a few places. A local newspaper in Chile further expressed that Bourdain's comment "constitutes a painful stab wound to the national pride".
• Mexican television host and comedian Adal Ramones made a joke about Pisco Sour, in reference to the 2009 Chile-Peru espionage scandal, on November 17, 2009. Ramones, a fan of Peruvian Pisco, when asked about the espionage situation responded: "What do the Chileans want to spy from Peru? How to make a good Pisco Sour?"
• Mexican singer-songwriter Aleks Syntek controversially posted via Twitter tha the Pisco Sour is Chilean. After receiving a critical responses for his statement, Syntek apologized and mentioned that he was only joking.
• During the 2008 APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting, Peru promoted its Pisco Sour with widespread acceptance. According to Antonio Brack, Peru’s Environment Minister, "Pisco Sour has been the 'star' of the APEC Summit, the drink was served in several meetings at the Government Palace and the APEC Summit venue".
• The Yacht, Pisco Sour from Chile, has competed and won yacht racing tournaments around the world.

See also

• List of cocktails with less common spirits
• Peruvian alcoholic drinks
• Pisco
• Sour (cocktail)

External links

• Go2Peru.com - Tourism site with information about Peruvian Pisco along with a recipe.
• Piscosour.com - The most complete website about Pisco Sour.