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Hello again,

This week we wrap up with the second part of my friend John Santa Cruz’s article on the oh so, elegant interesting and enigmatic Capitán. Next week I’ll be introducing you to another fantastic Pisco of the Month!

by
John Santa Cruz Manco

What is true is that the beginnings of the Captain were not aristocratic.

“This cocktail was drunk at cheaper cantinas. In some cases they didn’t even add in any pisco to the vermouth, just sugar cane spirits. The worst time for the Captain was during and after the First World War, because they stopped procuring any distillates in Europe. That is when Campodónico Ventura comes into the picture. He starts to produce a national vermouth. That is when the Captain really becomes popular since it was easy and cheap to make. At Lima bars it was known as 20 cents. From that point on the cocktail starts to become popular in the sierra for its warming qualities. But that is when it was modified some. Since Campodónico’s vermouth was not, shall we say, very good they started adding in a grenadine so that the Captain could have a bit of color. “It was always a direct cocktail,” says Roberto Meléndez as he sits comfortably in one of the chairs at the Bar Inglés at the Country Club Hotel. That is where, at the very peak of the Captain, the legend of the name is born. Like all legends nothing can be confirmed, but these stories are passed on generation to generation. One of these is perfectly familiar to the good Roberto Meléndez.

“The cocktail owes its name to the military captains of the Puno sierra. When they made their night rounds on horseback, they would go the stores and ask to drink that pisco and vermouth mix. In the sierra cantinas when a captain came in to purchase a famous 20 cents (the name before Captain), the wait staff would say: “For you my Captain.” That is where the name was born. So the cocktail became linked to the militia and thus gained respect. Even though my father, who was also a very well known bartender, told me that around 1946, when the generals walked in they would say: “Chino, give me a Cavalry Captain!” José Antonio Schiaffino did not want to go further into the Captain’s name, but he did confirm that this drink was initially drunk as a shot of pisco. “Really, in Lima, cocktails were never very popular. At first it was just the Americans who arrived who drank cocktails and a small group of Peruvians. Cocktails in Peru begin to take off in the 1980’s. Before that everything was very functional. Everything was very classic, there was no creativity but now we are living at the peak of cocktails,” Schiaffino points out.

The Captain was one step away from extinction. It was saved because of an argument. In recent years there was a peak that saved it from the guillotine of oblivion. But now its originality has been distorted a bit. Every bar prepares it a little differently, which is not bad, better yet it shows the creativity of bartenders. For example Hans Hilburg, who is currently living in Cusco and recently opened his bar El Pisquerito, did not hesitate to respond to our request to talk about this subject and how he sees the Captain. “Among the most requested cocktails is the Captain. Although I also have a new and unique version: The Perfect Captain which is also very popular. The difference is that the Captain has Pisco and Vermouth Rosso and the Perfect Captain has Pisco and both Vermouths, the Rosso and the Dry. In my case I use pisco acholado. Today the Captain, with the advances in cocktail mixology, has a new presentation in a Martini glass. This gives this cocktail more sophistication and elegance,” said Hans Hilburg, who consults to the most important bars of Peru and a few beyond our borders.

Another dilemma is the decoration. Some opt for olives and others for cherries and this generates controversy among bartenders. “In the 50s when bartenders were arriving in Peru from various parts of the world due to the Second World War. They brought new techniques especially in terms of the concept of decoration. That is when the olive enters the Captain. Today, the complements are very important to a cocktail. Everything is of value and everything that goes in has to bring something to it. The olive is important in a cocktail since as you bite into it, it invites you to take another sip,” Meléndez points out. On the other hand, Ricardo Carpio of the Pisco Bar says the opposite: “The Captain is a full bodied cocktail and that is why tradition says that a cherry is to be used to give it balance. The sweetness of the cherry regulates the Captain, what’s more, it was always drunk with a cherry, like the Manhattan,” he notes. Joel Nifla of the Martini Bar agrees. But José Antonio Schiaffino, comments that the Captain has three different presentations. “Extra dry, with two parts of pisco and one of vermouth, the traditional Captain with equal measures of each (pisco and vermouth) and the sweet with one part pisco and two of vermouth.”  For him those are the three versions of the Captain.

Finally, for José Bracamonte, experienced and sought after sommelier of the gourmet circuit of Lima, the Captain is also an excellent cocktail for matching. “I prepare the Captain as follows: one ounce of pisco and one ounce of Vermouth Rosso equally. A few drops of angostura bitters that decorate the perfume of this classic. I serve it at room temperature, without ice in order to preserve the aromas and flavors of our spirit. In addition, this cocktail goes very well with Parmeggiano Reggiano cheese with extra virgin olive oil. Also with a Spanish Navidul Sierra ham with melon or an Alpaca Carpaccio." As you can see, the Captain is the lord of the bar. It went through complicated times, it even ran the risk of disappearing, but its perseverance and elegance brought it back to its rightful place. Today with its popularity smiling down on it we only need to confirm its grandness at Lima’s bars. We are living the renaissance of a great one.