Concerning Pisco

I still remember my first Pisco Sour.

I really can only imagine what a slack-jawed fool I looked like as I saw my good friend and bartending mentor, Alex Davin, reached for a raw egg, and gracefully separate the white into his tin.

“Are you baking a cake?” I asked incredulously.

“Shut the f*** up and watch,” he replied in a far-off tone. I knew when he was concentrating.

“There are three drinks that mark the quality of any bartender out there,” he began, “the Manhattan, the Sazerac, and the Pisco Sour. The first one most beginners can fumble through. The second indicates that the bartender may be better than average. The last; however, means that you have someone who knows how to mix making your drink.”  I would never forget this moment.

I began to understand a well-kept secret that bartenders who truly understood their craft had long kept. Pisco, an un-aged brandy originated from Peru and Chile, is one of the most versatile liquors out there. While vodka fundamentally lacks any sort of flavor on it’s own and is merited on its smoothness, Pisco’s subtle notes of citrus, herbs, or fruits (depending on what you are tasting) are what make it the complex and well deserved patron saint of those who mix.  It does not insist upon itself like whisky or gin, and it does not embarrass you in front of your friends like tequila. It doesn’t swear like rum. Pisco is like my dog: content in itself, happy to change, and easy to be around.

As someone who loves infusions, Pisco offers the most complimentary flavor to create something new. I make a Pumpkin Pisco Sour that will knock your socks off. I serve a Pineapple infused Pisco punch that is refreshing in all seasons. In fact, in every menu that I design and serve, I make sure that there is at least one Pisco cocktail on the list for the already-converted or those seeking the gospel.

There is an increasingly exciting world of alcohol that is being discovered by the once dominated world of vodka, gin, rum, and tequila. Much like with soccer, Americans are beginning to open up to what the rest of the world is doing in regards to their drinks and really seeing what other liquors there are to offer. Pisco represents the singular joy I get in the response to when a guest asks me to make something “I’ve never had,” because I’m almost always reaching for the nearest bottle of Pisco behind my bar. 

Get out there, drinkers, and don’t be afraid to let your bartender mix you something that you’ve never had before.

I would just suggest you taste their Manhattan or their Sazerac first.