Pisco Sour

In Perú, the 3:1:1 ratio is perhaps the most popular. Additionally, a lot of bartenders there will blend the drink instead of shaking it.

Limones in Perú are closer to key limes. If they’re available to you, try your next Pisco Sour with those instead. If not, always go for limes and not lemons, as their sharp acidity is key to this drink.

People will suggest that you do not go overboard with squeezing the limes otherwise it will make a bitter drink – this is particularly true if you use key limes instead of regular limes.

The Angostura Bitters serve not only for flavor, but also to mask any smell from the egg white. Alternatively, you can add the bitters into the shaker and instead garnish with freshly grated cinnamon.

The oldest mention of a Pisco Sour we have is from a pamphlet from 1903 from S.E. Ledesma called Nuevo Manual de Cocina Criolla (New Manual of Creole Cooking). In there, there is a recipe simply called Cocktail, which calls for egg white, pisco, sugar and lime, all ingredients necessary for a Pisco Sour. 

The Pisco Sour most likely follows earlier traditions of mixing aguardiente with lime and sugar, just like it was done in other parts of America (i.e.: Daiquiri, Planter’s Punch, Caipirinha, etc).

One of the oldest mentions of a Pisco Sour (with that specific name) goes back to the late 1910s in Morris Bar in downtown Lima, Perú. There, it is said that it was created after the bartenders ran out of whiskey for their Whisky Sours and used pisco instead.