The idea of sipping on an aged brandy typically stirs up effigy of a gentleman’s gentleman sit by the fire after dinner party , perhaps even smoke a pipage while wear a tweed case . But pisco ( pronouncedPEES - koh ) , a deeply historical and versatile South Americanbrandy , is shaking thing up in American cocktail bars — speedily bring in a reputation as a pelvis ingredient in modern and traditional concoction likewise .
Itssuper - smooth , redolent flavorgently equilibrise its high-pitched intoxicant content , build it suitable for sipping neat or as a floor in mix . But the brag rights for pisco ’s origin are n’t as clear as this brandy ’s almost transparent colouration . Turns out Peru and Chile both have a centuries - long , and highly argufy , historywith pisco . First produced in the sixteenth hundred , it ’s made by fermenting wine from the super - angelical grapes grown on the coast of what are now Peru and Chile . But those borders were n’t yet draw when pisco was first create , so both countries take pisco as their own innovation — and their national drink .
One affair they all agree on is their love for thepisco sour — a unique cocktail that backpack in a little protein with its combination of simple syrup , lime succus , bitters , pisco , and frothed bollock whites . Of course , they both stake their claim to its recipe , but Peru went the extra naut mi and named the first Saturday in February as International Pisco Sour Day .
What Does ‘Pisco’ Mean?
There are three theory as to the origin of the name . The wordpiscois think to deduct from the Quechuan wordpishku , meaning hiss . It ’s no wonderment the word was used so oftentimes : TheParacas National Reservein Peru and theChilean coastare both fuck as a skirt watcher ’s nirvana . Most historians say the ( pishku ) pisco name directly links to the Peruvian interface town of Pisco , one of the first towns to be recorded on explorers ' maps . Yet other historiographer repoint to the clay pots called " pishkus " that were used to store the brandy .
story aside , Peru and Chile each continue to produce their own version of the popular spirit . The two miscellanea partake in the pisco name , but they ’re more like cousins than matching brothers . Each one maintain its individuality by followingdistinct distilling requirementsand using differentvarieties of grapes — ultimately lending to modest but notable differences in penchant .
But no matter who formulate it or how it ’s distilled , pisco is intelligibly in the middle of a advanced - day renaissance , giving Americans the pleasure of explore this South American staple — no fireplace , pipe or white pelage require .
