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The prince of the cocktails: The Sour

By Ezio Neyra
Translated by Diana P. Olano
Thanks to the prohibition act implemented in the United States in the 1920's, barmen had to invent ways in which to hide the taste of alcohol with the use of fruit juices. Thus, the "Sour" was born: an alcohol base, sugar and lemon juice. Few ingredients, but at the same time, with so many possible combinations, it has allowed this traditional cocktail to reign in bars.

The International Bartenders Association states that a cocktail can't have more than five ingredients, including what will be used as a garnish. The sour, one of the most infamous of the cocktail family, classified under the category short-drink or aperitif, abides by that rule. The basic recipe for a sour is simple: juice from a lemon, lime or other acidic fruit, and a bit of sugar or jarabe de goma to contrast the acidity. According to this essential trinity and without ever violating the five ingredient rule, the possibilities are endless. It is widely believed that the sour is a British invention and that the first alcohol used was the Scottish whisky. However, the first documented case comes from the 19th century and is a French drink: cognac and an egg white. In the beginning of the 20th century, when cognac imports became scarce, it was replaced with bourbon whiskey. They then added lemon juice to it. This resulted in the first and most famous example of the sour family: the whiskey sour.

In any case, the majority of specialists agree that the whiskey sour is the father of all the combinations that have followed.

The Mask

This is why it was essential to improve the terrible taste of the alcohol base with other types of fruit concoctions. That is the origin of cocktails in general, and of the sour in particular. Luckily, not being able to count on quality alcohol is a thing of the past.

Not even Bolivar, not even Maury

We mentioned that the whiskey sour is the likely antecedent of all the experiments resulting from the alcohol-lemon-sugar trinity. The fact that some older versions of this cocktail also include an egg white have made many historians believe that our pisco sour is not just another variation of the formula which perhaps was born Britain and was popularized when it crossed the Atlantic.

On the contrary, there are those who maintain (Schiaffino and Toro-lira, amongst others) that our official cocktail precedes from another type of sour created in the states and called "silver sour" or "gin sour".

Curiously, this silver sour was not invented during prohibition of the 20's, but dates back to before 1910. The recipe consisted of a gin base, lemon, sugar and an egg white. It is believed that it was American Victor Morris who brought this cocktail to Peru and once here, substituted gin for pisco.

In 1915, Morris opened a bar named after himself at 847 Boza Street.There he began to prepare pisco sour with the help of his Peruvian assistants: Alfonso Bregoye, Garciano Cabrera and Alberto Mezarina. They offered a variation of "Silver sour" called "Silver fizz" which consisted of the same recipe as before— a gin base, lemon, sugar and an egg white—but with the important addition of club soda.

The bar on Boza Street closed down in 1933, but it is known that the recipe Morris and his assistants invented spread quickly, with the recipe for pisco sour being used at the most elegant hotels such as The Maury or The Bolivar.

Today, the barmen of both hotels claim they created the recipe for our official cocktail. The bartenders at The Maury can brag with every right that at their hotel a peculiar version of pisco sour was created, where our national brandy is balanced out with small amounts of vodka, rum, whiskey, gin or tequila. The bartenders of The Bolivar can brag that in their hotel, the most celebrated anecdote related to the pisco sour was born: they say that actress Ava Gardener, along with Orson Welles, got drunk with triple pisco sours, finished dancing on top of tables and hours later, slipped into a suite accompanied by one of the bartenders.

However you put it, the name "pisco sour" truly became famous during 1960, when Lima became the center of the political, economic and artistic Peruvian movements.

Do it yourself

We could also vary the pisco sour recipe by soaking the brandy in coca leaves and the result would none other than the "coca sour", an invention by chef Cucho La Rosa for his restaurant Pantagruel. And if instead of coca we use chuchuhausi roots to soak, we would obtain the folkloric "chuchuhausi sour".

Along with the essential mixture of lemon juice and sugar, we can also substitute the lemon for another juice and make a "mango sour", "camu-camu sour" or "aguaymanto sour". The lemon can even be substituted for a fruit with similar acidity levels—tumbo, cocona or guayaba—such as for the well-known "maracuya sour" (passion fruit) or the cocktail known as the "Maricucha".

Also, the followers of the "fitness" culture can replace sugar with an artificial sweetener. In some restaurants in Lima, the "pisco sour light" is becoming commonplace.

In reality, the possibilities are endless and it all depends on the imagination of the bartender, professional or aficionado. But let's remember that whatever the experiment, it is only allowed the title "sour" if it maintains the recipe: alcohol base, lemon juice (or another acidic fruit) and some sugar or jarabe de goma, the perfect trinity.



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1 comments

Jeff Flack says :
30-07-08,08:12:53

Call it what you want, It can be VIRACOCHAS blessing or  ATAHUALPAS revenge!
It comes in every quality you can imagine. I have had the best ones, and unfortunately I've had real bad one's as well.
Some of the best for me were at restaurants like Costa Verde,Tranquera  and the best was at the cieneguilla home, of the well known Attorney and land developer, Dr JAUN BELLIDO. When invited to a pachamanca for some visiting highbrows. Now I don't normally get to go to these exclusive events, I spend more time in Balconcillo, the people are just a little bit more fun.
Any way, as is normal the whole thing was done by the in house staff with some outside waiters, But the drinks were made by one person, it was DR BELLIDO'S wife ELVIRA pronounced  EL/BE/DA the most gracious hostess I have ever seen.
She made batch's of pisco sours , For a hundred people . and believe me, they/WE all had a few.
I watch her with rapt attention, she used instruments, that any scientist would be proud to own, she measured four liter batches to the drop.   THEY WERE PERFECT!!  
Each one, had the taste, of great key lime pie from south Florida, no not that stuff you get in Miami , but down where the crackers live, where grandma made the (after go to meting sweets for the chillin).
They were sweet, but tart at the same time, they made the salivary glands flow like water.
You did not taste it,  but they where strong enough to blow the steam off an alpaca fart at fifty meters!
Sorry to ramble folks, just the thought made my mouth water. Just the drink, not the other!!
As I have previously stated, I have had one or maybe a lot, that should never have been in a glass, or anywhere, unless you needed to strip the two-hundred year finish from a floor,
I would include most tourist restaurants. And that's really to bad, the people come here to spend money,see the sites, and have fun.
where do most of the guides take them, Avenue de pizza or in front of the plaza de Armas in centro. There they can see a fountain built in 1655 , tour cathedral's that are some of the most beautiful in the world and then have lunch at a tourist place, where not only is the food is not what any person from lima would eat, if they get a drink it is made from a mix that looks like milk and taste like lie soap. Well I digress, AGAIN.
I love this place , I have lived here for more then fifteen years, my best thought is , make friends with a real Peru family, don't just go to the places where other expiated's or visiting workers go. The people from here know, how to get you a real pisco sour or even a pisco puro, which I can say from my own experience is always a great start to a fun night.
now it is Wednesday night and time to go see the cafes. Hope to se you out there.
 "Salud" jeff



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