The first Saturday of February is the official World Pisco Sour Day. In Peru, it’s actually a public holiday! Both the two South American countries Chile and Peru claim ownership to pisco as a liqueur and to pisco sour as their national drink. As the story goes, the drink was invited in Lima, Peru by an American bartender in the 1920s. However, Chileans will argue that it was invented much earlier in Chile, but that it started out as a whiskey sour. Whoever was the inventor – it’s fucking delicious!
Tonight, on the 6th of February 2016, we celebrated World Pisco Sour Day at restaurant Aymara in Oslo. No doubt, there were also celebrations going on at the other South-American influenced bars and restaurants around town, like Perla bar, Piscoteket, and Kamai. Pisco is a colorless or yellowish colored brandy produced by distilling grape wine into spirit. Like most liqueur, you find it in different qualities. I once tasted an outstanding pisco that was a delicacy to drink on its own. I don’t think I would use the finest quality in a cocktail, though. The good people at Aymara were kind enough to share their recipe for pisco sour with me!
Original Aymara Pisco Sour Recipe
- 4 cl pisco
- 3 cl lime juice
- 2 cl sugar syrup
- Egg white from 1/2 organic egg
- Angostura bitters
- Crushed ice
To make sugar syrup, boil one part sugar to one part water for 1 minute and cool down. Add pisco, lime juice and sugar syrup in a cocktail shaker. Dry shake with the egg white. You can also use a blender or a stab mixer to achieve the same result. Add crushed ice and shake again. Serve in a lowball glass. Make two or three strips in the foam with Angostura bitters. Done! You can also make variations by adding passionfruit, pineapple and other exotic fruits to the mix.
What is your favorite pisco sour recipe? Please leave a comment below.