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The Morris Bar and the origin of the Pisco Sour

As promised last week, here is an interesting tidbit about the history of Victor Morris and the Morris Bar, birthplace of the Pisco Sour.  This is apropos, since this week we are celebrating Peru, and there is no better way to do so than with our beloved Pisco Sour!

Salud!

Hans

The Morris Bar and the origin of the Pisco Sour

In recent years, it has come to light that the California native, Victor V. Morris, born in Berkeley /San Francisco was the one who surprised our imagination by inventing the Pisco Sour, an extraordinary cocktail, today internationally recognized, that we appreciate more and more each day and which has become a part of our gastronomic culture.

Mr. Morris has been rescued from oblivion and has been given the credit that he deserves. He has been rescued from the fate of “those who should be remembered yet time has forgotten” and rightfully so, as he should hold a place of honor in the cocktail history of Peru.

Victor V. Morris was the owner of the Morris Bar, located on Boza 847, on the Jiron de la Union in downtown Lima. He opened his doors in 1915 to offer a variety of cocktails similar to those that were being served in the United States at the end of the XIXth century, as well as other alcoholic beverages that he imported from all over the world. We could say that the Pisco Sour is a very Limeño cocktail with a foreign father, which was served at what might perhaps have been the first saloon our grandparents hade ever known. The bar closed its doors in 1933 and it was the only place in Lima where this concoction could be had. Just like what happened with the Pisco Punch, the exclusive creation of the Bank Exchange Bar in San Francisco.

We should not be surprised that the creator of the Pisco Sour was a Californian. It makes sense, since it was in San Francisco, between1850 and 1890, that almost all of the cocktails of the world were invented. I have not been able to find any photographs of Victor V. Morris, even after having searched the voluminous photographic archives, holding thousands of plaques, of French photographer Eugene Courret who worked in Lima from 1863 until 1934. I also looked for his death certificate in the records of the municipality of Lima, but found nothing. Neither was there anything in the records of Miraflores, Barranco or Chorrillos. Maybe he died in the provinces or on his way back to the United Status after the lifting of Prohibition in 1933, the same year that, according to Luis Alberto Sanchez, the Morris Bar closed due to bankruptcy.

Unfortunately, it is not easy to investigate the life of this elusive and historic character. I thought, surely the story of Victor V. Morris World be a perfect gift for a story teller. There is still so much to learn about his life: Did he marry? Did he have children? When exactly did he arrive in Peru and when did he leave?
I did however; find the house where he lived.  It is listed in the subscriber’s directory of the newspaper “El Comercio” of Lima, Callao, Beaches and Provinces: It was at Pasaje de la Encarnación (today it is called Jiron Carabaya) in front of the Gran Hotel Bolivar, on the centrally located Plaza San Martin, just one block from the Morris Bar…

(Extract adapted from the book by Jose Antonio Schiaffino, El Origen del Pisco Sour: El Bar Morris, el Hotel Maury y el Gran Hotel Bolivar)


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5 comments

Phil Houseal says :
24-07-08,12:12:54

I would love to learn more about this person and how he invented the drink. Good research by the writer. I remember pisco sours from my 2 years in Ilo in 78-80. Still have a bottle of pisco stashed somewhere.

J J says :
25-07-08,03:23:34

More about Victor Morris:

http://www.piscopunch.com/articles.php

alex reccio says :
30-07-08,11:05:53

great article....aside from being a pisco lover, i also appreciate these little bits of history, well done!

Donna M. Morris says :
11-08-08,08:40:18

My husband Michael P. Morris is the Grandson of Victor Vaughn Morris.

I would like to have a picture of the house Victor lived in.  Do you or can you please forward on to this email mev@frontiernet.net  

Thank you,

Donna Morris

Simond says :
4-11-09,02:54:43

The Hotels Maury, Bolivar and Bertolotto were famous in the 1920/30s.
Who is to say what coctails and exotic drinks came from the Bertolotto?
Coctails were served at the Bertolotto.I have seen and  have had in my possession a photo of the Salon de Baile of the Bertolotto taken before 1937.There is clearly a price list of various coctails displayed in the background.Is there anyone who knows about this old hotel??



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