Two small glasses filled with a green cocktail with a frothy topping

Pisco sour

Name: Pisco sour
Total time: 5 min
Yield: Makes 1
Cuisine: Peruvian
Ingredients: 6 tbsp pisco; 2 tbsp lime juice; 2 tbsp simple syrup; 1 tbsp egg white; 3 drops Angostura bitters

Virgilio Martinez

Published: December 6, 2021 at 1:40 PM

Save recipe

Makes 1

Easy

Total time: 5 mins

A star rating of 5 out of 5.1 ratingRate

loading...

Get 5 months for £5 when you subscribe today

Try this classic Peruvian brandy cocktail, made with pisco, fresh lime juice and egg whites. A few drops of bitters are added to top the egg-white foam

Skip to ingredients

Alternatives

Complete the dish

Make this pisco sour recipe from Peruvian restaurant Coya, then check out their Peruvian stew and Peruvian scallops. We've also got more cocktail sours to try, including amaretto sour, whisky sour and tom collins.

What is a pisco sour?

In the 1920s, inspired by the whiskey sour, an American bar owner in Lima named Victor Morris experimented with a version using pisco. While there is evidence that pisco was being mixed with lime and egg whites in prior years, the version refined at Morris’ Bar by Peruvian bartender Mario Bruiget as the years went on is the form that grew in widespread popularity. Both Peru and Chile claim it as the national drink, though recipes differ between the countries. In Chile, egg whites are left out of the mixture, plus Chilean pisco – which follows different production methods – is used.

Pisco sour recipe

This pisco sour recipe is an extract from The Latin American Cookbook by Virgilio Martínez (£25, Phaidon).

Ingredients

6 tbsp pisco
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp simple syrup
1 tbsp egg white
3 drops Angostura bitters

Method

step 1

Put all the ingredients, except the Angostura bitters, in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake for less than 1 minute, then strain into an old fashioned glass. Drip the Angostura bitters into the foam and serve cold.

This Pisco sour recipe is an extract from The Latin American Cookbook by Virgilio Martínez (£25, Phaidon). Photographs by Nicholas Gill.

Try more easy cocktail recipes

Authors

Virgilio Martinez

Comments, questions and tips

Rate this recipe

What is your star rating out of 5?1 star out of 52 stars out of 53 stars out of 54 stars out of 55 stars out of 5

Choose the type of message you'd like to post

CommentQuestionTip

Overall rating

A star rating of 5 out of 5.1 rating

Want to see this content?

This page contains olivemagazine content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose 'Accept and continue' to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.

Accept and continue