Welcome back, friends - it's Anders.
Today I'm going to show you how to make the Pisco Sour because we are coming up on Pisco Sour Day -
which is the first Saturday of every February.
This is a light, delicate, refreshing cocktail that's great in warm weather -
and here in Chicago in February it's cold, and snowy, and icy, but I don't care -
this is a great cocktail any time of year.
I should point out that this holiday is a Peruvian holiday because Chile also claims the Pisco Sour as their own,
and the recipes differ, and it's a little controversial. In fact, my recipe is probably going to upset both sides of the argument.
If you're new to the channel, welcome. Happy to have you.
Hit that subscribe button for more sips, tips, and recipes - and let's go make the Pisco Sour.
To the bar.
[intro music]
The Pisco Sour is a true classic. It's over a hundred years old, and like so many other
classic cocktails, its origin stories are not that clear. The most accepted story is that Victor Vaughen Morris,
who was a U.S. citizen, moved to Lima, Peru in 1903. Then 13 years later, he opened Morris Bar
where he started serving Pisco Sours as an alternative to the Whiskey Sour which was already
well established as a cocktail. Now, the years that followed, his bartenders moved on to other bars and
they took that recipe, and they added egg white and bitters, and they further popularized the cocktail.
Which is a great story. It makes perfect sense. However, what is interesting in 1903 -
the same year that Mr. Morris moved down to Lima, Peru - a Peruvian cookbook came out that had a drink in it
simply called "Cocktail," and it was the same build as the Pisco Sour - with the egg white!
It's not called a Pisco Sour in the book, but you look at the ingredients, and that thing is a Pisco Sour.
So that's why this whole story is ehh. In Chile, they don't add the egg white or the bitters,
so the cocktail that I'm doing is based on the Peruvian Pisco Sour.
We're gonna shake up this cocktail, so I've got my Boston shaker, jigger, fine mesh strainer, and Hawthorne strainer.
Also, think of a glass you want to serve this in.
I's not uncommon to have this in a simple rocks glass. You could serve it in a coupe, martini glass.
I'm going to serve it in a little wine glass - a little goblet that I've got freezing in my freezer.
So get your glass chilled. Really makes a world of difference.
Now the booze.
We are going to need Pisco,
lemon juice,
lime juice,
simple syrup -
this is my semi-rich syrup, so it's one and a half parts sugar to one part water,
aquafaba,
and bitters.
The Pisco I'm using is Barsol, and the bitters is Angostura Aromatic Bitters.
As far as the bitters, I actually have mine in a dropper bottle because I'm just using this as a garnish.
And if you wanted to go very authentic, you could use the Peruvian bitters which is Chuncho bitters.
I think I'm saying that right - Chuncho.
The aquafaba - that's my replacement for egg white. If you want to go egg white, then you should go egg white.
In fact most people will say you have to use egg white, but for me, personally, I like the aquafaba.
It's just lighter, and it enhances the cocktail because this is a really delicate cocktail, and I'm really happy with it.
Now we gotta talk about Pisco. Pisco is essentially a brandy
because it's a spirit derived from wine or fruit. In this case, grapes.
And you can't get Pisco anywhere else other than Peru and Chile, and they disagree what Pisco is.
In fact, if you were to buy a bottle of Peruvian Pisco in Chile, they stripped the label of Pisco.
So you won't be able to see it as Pisco in Chile. And if you had a Chilean bottle of Pisco in Peru,
you probably got that illegally because it's illegal to import Chilean Pisco into Peru.
The big difference is what they call Pisco. So in Peru they have very strict regulations.
What that does is it creates a very consistent, high quality spirit. There are only eight grape varietals that are allowed,
you can only distill it once, so it maintains the aroma and flavors from the grapes,
and you can't age it on wood. So it has to be in a container that's usually glass or stainless steel or copper.
Something that doesn't impart an outside flavor. And then you have to bottle it at that proof,
so you can't add water and lower the proof.
Now, in Chile they're a little bit more relaxed with the rules. They allow up to 13 grapes that you can use in your Pisco,
and you can even infuse that wine with fruit - which just makes things completely different.
You can distill it as many times as you want - which is going to make it further and further refined,
but it makes a higher proof alcohol. So some Chilean Piscos are actually marketed towards vodka drinkers.
Then you can age that on wood, if you want, and that's how you get the outside flavors.
And when you bottle it you can add water and adjust the proof however you want.
What that does is it just makes an opportunity for more creative, innovative expressions of the spirit.
So is one better than the other? I can't say that. That's not for me to say.
There was your lesson in Pisco.
Hoo!
I'm not done. Now we gotta talk citrus. So I'm using both lemon and lime, and if you do this like I do,
maybe put a little sticker on the bottom so I know that this is lime - because they look very similar.
But I like going half lemon and half lime. This is all because a long time ago, I was bartending
in downtown Chicago and a Peruvian woman ordered a Pisco Sour from me. And so I made her one with lemon, and she hated it.
So I made her a second one with lime, and she didn't like it.
And it was her recommendation to split the lemon and lime. So I did that, and she loved it.
It probably didn't hurt that that was her third cocktail, but I have been splitting it between lemon and lime ever since.
I really like it. The lemons and limes you get here in the states are nothing like the limes they get in Peru.
By splitting the lemon and lime you kind of mimic that a little bit.
Let's build.
All right, let's start with the Pisco. We're gonna go two ounces of Pisco,
half an ounce of lime juice,
half an ounce of lemon juice,
I think I did that backwards. Doesn't matter. Half ounce of each.
If you only have lemon, go a full ounce of lemon. If you only have lime, do a full ounce of lime.
They're both very good, but if you have both, try both! Three quarters of an ounce of our semi-rich syrup,
and three quarters of an ounce of our aquafaba - or egg white.
Just a side note, if you do use egg white, depending on the size of your egg,
it could be enough egg white for two to three cocktails.
So just keep that in mind. You may have to measure that out.
Now we're gonna dry shake just to emulsify the aquafaba with the rest of the cocktail.
Shake vigorously for 10 seconds.
There we are. Now we can add ice and shake.
Shake away.
Once it gets cold on your hands, grab your chilled glass,
and double strain right into the glass.
[whistle]
Now we just let it sit for a minute while that foam settles,
and we're gonna garnish with bitters. So the reason why this cocktail is garnished with bitters
is really to cover up the subtle smell of egg white.
So they would say traditionally do three drops of aromatic bitters right on top.
Now with aquafaba there really isn't any scent, so I'm just gonna do one drop of the Angostura Bitters
because I do like the fragrant bitters right on the nose. It's just really nice. See, look it's a little beauty mark - like me!
When I drink this I don't go straight for the bitters. I like to save that last drop of bitters for the end.
It's just a nice, nice finish to the cocktail. Happy Pisco Sour Day, everybody!
[cough]
Excuse me.
Ahhh
This is such an easy drink. The Pisco is really nice and light.
The whole thing is nice and light. So I know that I made this drink based on the Peruvian recipe.
I mean no discredit to the Chilean Pisco Sours. This is just what I'm most familiar with.
Wen I was in the third grade we had pen pals with different countries,
and I was given Chile. And so I was writing letters, like. snail mail, to somebody in Chile.
And as a third grade kid, I thought I was a pen pal with the entire country of Chile.
I was wrong
because they don't remember me.
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Enjoy your Pisco Sours everyone! I'll see you next time.
Cheers!
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