Sharkbait’s Cocktail of the Week: South American Style

Hello and happy Friday once again. I’m still tinkering with the idea I put forth last week about going through the entire Gentleman’s Companion. I haven’t figured out how it would work yet, or if it’s even a feasible idea. More research is clearly needed on the matter. In the meantime, I still have drinks to make, some coming from a seemingly growing list I’ve noted for later. One of those is a Pisco Sour. I decided this was the week to try it. I got the recipe from “The Office: Classic Cocktails” a friend gave to me a while back. It’s a cocktail bar in Chicago that is for sure on my list to visit next time I’m back there. Their version uses an extra ounce of Pisco than other recipes normally would call for. I’ve used my bottle sparingly, so I’m curious to see if I’ll like this one.

Pisco Sour

3 oz. Pisco

1 oz. Fresh lime juice

1 oz. Simple Syrup

1 Egg white

1 drop Angostura bitters

Combine all cocktail ingredients except bitters into a cocktail shaker. Dry shake until frothy. Add ice and shake again vigorously until chilled and diluted, then double strain into a chilled glass. Add 1 drop of Angostura bitters onto the surface of the cocktail.

Nose is mostly lime, but muted. The angostura bitters comes through from the garnish on the foam. Also did a few drops worth since it came out a bit fast this time.

This is interesting. It’s cold, mostly sour (no shit) slightly sweet and heavy on the pisco. What’s interesting is the pisco doesn’t hit you up front. It waits. It lures you in with the sour and a touch sweet flavors along with the thickness the egg white provides, and then right as you’re about to finish sipping, you get hit with the super dry, wine-y grape flavor Maccu Pisco brings to the drink. It doesn’t overpower the rest of the flavors going on, but it is a very strong finish to this and it sticks around for a bit thanks to the froth and the egg white.

The lime is powerful as mentioned before, but is a complete non factor at the end when the pisco takes over. Same with the simple syrup sweetness. It takes some of the edge off (but not as much to keep this from being a proper sour, but gets absolutely lost in the ending. The bitters is an interesting addition. I thought it was mostly for aesthetics since the color is a nice contrast to the rest of the drink and makes it visually appealing, but it apparently has a secondary, and arguably more important role to play. It acts as an aroma enhancer. According to The Office cocktail book, drinks with foamy egg white presentations can start to smell a bit…off if you don’t consume it before it warms up. So the bitters acts as a mask if you don’t consume this fast enough. Of which could be a bit hard to do depending on how you feel about Pisco.

To that end, I’m on the fence about this. From a technical standpoint, I like what is going on here. The flavors are well balanced, it’s a good sour, and is strong enough where I can taste the base spirit. However, I don’t know if I’m a pisco fan or not. Now admittedly, I’m probably not working with the best pisco out there, so I’m sure this could be improved on. Though the more I have this, the better it seems. I guess I should experiment more with Pisco and see what I can do with it.

(Banner image courtesy Matthew Tetrault Photography)