Before I give you the pisco sour recipe, there somos questions to answer.
What is Pisco Sour? The pisco sour is a typical cocktail from Chile and Peru. Its name is a fusion of the word pisco, which is an alcoholic beverage similar to agua ardiente, from grapes, and the concept of “sour”, which are drinks made with lemon. Sugar or syrup is added to this mixture to add sweetness. The pisco sour is one of the most drinked cocktails with the vaina in Chile.
How is Pisco made? The elaboration of pisco consists of four phases: cultivation and harvest of pisco grapes, vinification, distillation, packaging in consumer units. The Pisco Denomination of Origin establishes that all the phases must be carried out in the pisco zone, turning the distillate into a product directly linked to the geographical and cultural conditions of the transverse valleys of Copiapó, Huasco, Elqui, Limarí and Choapa (Chile). Added to this are the pisco grapes, which were born thanks to the interaction of various grape strains, which in these fertile soils gave life to new, unique and endemic varieties. In Chile there are about 10,000 hectares of pisco grapes and most of them are grown Moscatel Rosada, Alejandría and Austria, Torontel and Pedro Jiménez varieties. There are also other varieties, but they are less used: Moscatel Early, Yellow, Canelli, Frontignan, Hamburg, Black, Orange and Chaselas Musque Vrai. These grapes grow at the foot of the desert, with cold nights and lots of sun, which is why they concentrate a high level of sugar in their grains.
What pisco to use for pisco sour? Following the guidelines of the Pisco Denomination of Origin, it is classified according to its minimum alcohol content: current or traditional Pisco, 30º; Special pisco, 35º; Pisco reserve 40º; Great Pisco, 43º. I recommend the 40º one, because I feel that it leaves a perfect and harmonious flavor with the acid of the lemon, and make for my taste the best pisco sour recipe.
What does it mean when a pisco sour is dry? When we talk about a “dry” pisco sour, it means that the drink contains less sugar. When we talk about a sweet pisco sour, we mean that the taste of alcohol is concealed.
How to make the Pisco Sour not get Bitter? So that the Pisco Sour is not excessively sweet or bitter, it is important to choose a quality lemon. He prefers the greenish ones before the yellowish ones and I recommend you wash them several times so that their shell does not release substances that alter the flavor of the cocktail.
Pisco sour recipe
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup strained lemon juice without seeds or pulp, if they use half normal lemon and half lime, much better
- 3 to 4 cups of pisco at 40ª … normal people use only with 3, but I prefer with 4
- 1 cup gum if you don’t have gum, you can dissolve 1 cup of granulated white sugar in half a cup of hot water and bring to the fire until it is dissolved, once it is cold you can use it
- 1 cup crushed ice one if you don’t have an ice crusher you can: crush it by putting it in a bag and hitting it with a rolling pin
- 1 egg white
- drops bitters optional
Instructions
- In a blender we put the lemon juice, pisco, gum, ice and egg white and We process until the ice is dissolved
- We serve the individual glasses, we add to each one a couple of drops of angostura (bitter)
- and to enjoy!
Notes
we can keep our pisco sour in the freezer for 3 or 4 without problems