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 ([Little 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 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 neither the egg white or Angostura bitter. Other variants of the cocktail include those created with fruits, like mango and pineapple, or plants such as ginger and coca leaves.

The cocktail originated in Peru, invented in the Peruvian capital of Lima by Victor Vaughn Morris in the early 1920s. An American bartender, Morris left his native United States in 1903 to work in Cerro de Pasco, a city in central Peru. In 1916, he inaugurated in Lima his saloon, Morris' Bar, which became a popular spot for the Peruvian Upper class and English-speaking foreigners. Coincidentally, the oldest mention of the Pisco Sour so far found comes from an advertisement from Morris' Bar published in a 1924 English newspaper from the Chilean port of Valparaiso.

The Pisco Sour underwent several changes until Mario Bruiget, a Peruvian bartender working at Morris' Bar, created the modern Peruvian recipe of the cocktail in the latter part of the 1920s by adding Angostura bitters and egg whites to the mix. In Chile, historian Oreste Plath attributed the invention of the drink to Elliot Stubb, an English steward of a ship named Sunshine, whom allegedly mixed Key lime, syrup, and ice cubes to create the cocktail in a bar in the port city of Iquique in 1872. Nonetheless, not only was Iquique a Peruvian city at the time (prior to its annexation by Chile in the aftermath of the War of the Pacific in 1883), but the original source cited by Plath attributed Stubb the invention of the Whisky Sour.

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

History

Background

The roots of Pisco itself reach back to the 16th century and stem from Colonial rule. The Spaniards brought the grape to the Peruvian region from Europe, but the King of Spain banned wine in the 17th Century, forcing locals to concoct a different kind of alcohol from the grape.^[1]

Guillermo Toro Lira writes in his book Wings of Cherubs that Pisco Sour's antecedent was invented near the Plaza de Toros de Acho of Lima, in the Viceroyalty of Peru during the 18th century. At this time, Pisco was mixed with lemons, and received the name Punche (Spanish for Punch). This drink also served as the predecessor for the Californian Pisco punch, invented during the 20th century in the Bank Exchange Bar of San Francisco and which contains Pisco, lemon, and pineapple.^[2]

Origin

Pisco Sour originated in Lima, Peru, created by American bartender Victor Vaughn Morris in the early 1920s. Morris was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. In 1903, he traveled to Peru to work as a cashier in 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 (renown adventurer and cultural ambassador to Peru).^[3][4]

Morris' Bar, located in Boza street (close to the Plaza Mayor of Lima),^[5] 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 then-Peruvian city of Iquique.^[6] Some discrepancy exists on the exact date when Gringo Morris made the popular cocktail. Master mixologist Dale DeGroff claims that the drink was invented in 1915,^[7] but other sources claim the drink was invented in the 1920s.^[8][9] Chilean newspaper El Mercurio especifically mentions 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."^[10]

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.^[11] The last version of the cocktail's recipe was developed by Mario Bruiget, a Peruvian from Chincha Alta who worked under the pupilage of Morris starting on July 16, 1924. Bruiget's recipe added the Angostura bitters and egg whites to the mix.^[12]

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."^[13] 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, is thus far the oldest known mention of the Pisco Sour.^[14] Tatiana Perich, from Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, comments that by 1927 the 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.^[15]

Competition from nearby bars and Victor Morris' declining health led to the decline and ultimate fall of his enterprise. 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 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 Cirrosis.^[16][17]

Aftermath

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.^[18] 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.^[19]

During the 1940s and 1950s an oil bonanza in Peru attracted foreign attention to the country. In Lima, Hollywood stars such as Orson Wells and John Wayne drank the Pisco Sour offered in the Hotel Bolivar and Hotel Maury.^[20][21]

Preparation and variants

In both countries, the variety of lime used is what North Americans would call Key lime but Peruvians call simply "limón" (lemon) and Chileans "limón de Pica". In the United States, the drink is usually made with commonly available Lisbon or Eureka lemons. With the increased availability of Pisco and regional bitters outside South America, the Pisco Sour, like the Mojito and Caipirinha, has increased in popularity in the United States.

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), Sour de Campo (with ginger and honey), and Sour Hass (with avocados, pineapple, and mint).

In Peru, additional variations of the Pisco Sour can be found, combining some traditional Peruvian jungle fruits such as aguaymanto, cocona or traditional leaves such as the coca leaf in the Coca Sour. Another cocktail prepared with Peruvian Pisco is Chilcano (ginger ale, honey, lemon).

Similar cocktails to the Pisco Sour include the Chilean Piscola and the Peruvian Algarrobina Cocktail. The Algarrobina Cocktail is made from Pisco, condensed milk, and sap from the Peruvian algarroba tree.^[22]

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

Nationality dispute

Chile disputes the national origin of Pisco Sour with Peru.^[23]

According to the Stubb account, the origin of the pisco sour story told of an English steward of a sailing ship named "Sunshine". In 1872, Elliot Stubb obtained leave to disembark in the port of Iquique, which was a Peruvian city at the time prior to it becoming a Chilean city in 1884, with the aim of settling in the city and opening a bar. In his bar, he experimented with many aperitifs and drinks, of which one would become the Pisco Sour.^[24]

Since 2003, Peru has a National Pisco Sour Day which is celebrated on the first weekend of February.^[25] Renown Chilean historian Gonzalo Vial Correa also attributes the Pisco Sour's invention to "Gringo" Morris from the Peruvian Morris Bar, but presents his name as William Morris.^[26]

http://www.rpp.com.pe/2012-02-04-es-hora-de-brindar-peruanos-celebran-el-dia-del-pisco-sour-noticia_447649.html

http://www.terra.com.pe/noticias/articulo/html/act727271.htm

Popularity

• 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.^[27]
• American celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain drank, in an episode for the Travel Channel program Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations filmed in Chile, Pisco Sour at the Valparaiso restaurant "La Playa." 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."^[28]
• On November 17, 2009 Adal Ramones, a Mexican television show host and comedian, made a joke about Pisco Sours, in regard to the 2009 Chile-Peru espionage scandal: "What do the Chileans want to spy from Peru? How to make a good Pisco Sour?"^{[citation needed]}
• In late 2010 Mexican singer-songwriter Aleks Syntek created controversy via Twitter when he posted that the Pisco Sour is Chilean. After receiving a critical response from the Peruvian Twitter community, Syntek posted that he was only kidding.^{[citation needed]}
• In his series of novels beginning with the book Revelation Space, author Alastair Reynolds wrote several characters who prefer pisco sours, and trying to convince others to try the beverage.

See also

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

References

External links

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

http://books.google.com/books?id=QQPQnCwBdJ8C&pg=PT297&dq=Pisco+Sour+Victor+Morris&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6UZdT5OyI6jW2AWypsTeDg&ved=0CD4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Morris&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=OPlRDjfGnloC&pg=PA143&dq=Pisco+Sour+Victor+Morris&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6UZdT5OyI6jW2AWypsTeDg&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=Pisco%20Sour%20Victor%20Morris&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=07eO9aBHdrUC&pg=PA115&dq=Pisco+Sour+Victor+Morris&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6UZdT5OyI6jW2AWypsTeDg&ved=0CEkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Morris&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=LlePAePLlqkC&pg=PA35&dq=%22Pisco+Sour+invented+in+Chile%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=VVhdT4DIGaTU2AWrveXYDg&ved=0CE0Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=Pisco%20Sour&f=false

http://www.emol.com/noticias/economia/2011/02/05/462760/peruanos-celebran-el-dia-del-pisco-sour-con-degustaciones-y-fiestas.html