Recipe
🥤 DRINK
Pisco Sour
Peru's national cocktail: pisco shaken with lime, syrup, and egg white to a silky foam, dashed with bitters.
Peruvian · medium · serves 1
prep 5 min · cook 0 min
~154 cal · 7g protein · 23g carbs · 5g fat · 1g fiber · 18g sugars · 2g sat fat (estimated, per serving)
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The pisco sour is Peru's national cocktail (claimed also by Chile, in one of the region's great rivalries) and the star of the country's love affair with pisco, the clear grape brandy distilled since colonial times. It even has its own national day.
The modern drink was popularised in 1920s Lima, reportedly at Morris's Bar, and follows a precise balance: pisco shaken hard with fresh lime juice, simple syrup, and egg white, which whips into a silky, cloud-white foam. A few drops of Angostura bitters are dotted on top.
Tart, smooth, and elegant, with that signature frothy crown, it is the aperitif of choice across Peru.
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Make it yours
✓ Naturally vegetarian and gluten-, dairy-, nut- and pork-free. No swaps needed.
Toggle a diet and the ingredients rewrite themselves with regional substitutes.
🥕 Vegetarian
🌱 Vegan
🌾 Gluten-Free
🥛 Dairy-Free
🥜 Nut-Free
🥚 Egg-Free
🐖 Pork-Free
Dietary labels are a cooking guide, not allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish; we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, read the label on every product you use, and note that a kitchen can cross-contaminate in ways a recipe cannot control.
Ingredients
US
Metric
Serves 1
3 oz pisco (quebranta or acholado)
Hard to find? 3 oz Chilean pisco, or an unaged grape brandy - Chilean pisco is the nearest thing and often easier to buy, though it is usually softer and sometimes lightly aged; the drink is a Peru-Chile argument in a glass either way
1 oz fresh lime juice
1 oz simple syrup
1 egg white
3 drops Angostura bitters
a handful ice
Instructions
1
Add the pisco, lime, syrup, and egg white (or aquafaba) to a shaker.
✎ Chef’s note
The Peruvian standard is three parts pisco to one part lime to one part syrup. Quebranta gives the classic backbone, acholado a more floral drink.
2
Dry-shake hard without ice to build the foam.
3
Add ice and shake again until cold.
4
Strain into a chilled glass.
5
Dot three drops of bitters on the foam and serve.
Lima tradition.
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🌏 While it simmers, know your destination
📍
Lima. Lima is the culinary capital of South America, where Pacific ceviche meets Japanese and Chinese immigration in nikkei and chifa cooking. Native potatoes, ají peppers, and pisco define a world-celebrated food city.
🗺️
Peru. The Andes are a working farm at altitude. The International Potato Center in Lima counts more than four thousand native potato varieties across the highlands of Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador, each selected over generations for a particular soil and frost line, and the same cold that limits what will grow is put to work preserving it as freeze-dried chuno.
🌍
South America. The Andes are the potato's homeland and still hold something like four thousand native varieties, selected over thousands of years for altitude, colour and texture. The high plateau also worked out how to keep them: frozen overnight in the cold, trodden to press the water out, then dried in the sun into chuno, which stores for years.
The story behind this dish is up top, worth a read while the pot works.
More from Peru
Lomo SaltadoBeef flash-fried in a smoking wok with soy, vinegar, tomatoes, and fries, Lima's Chinese-Peruvian icon.
Rocoto RellenoArequipa’s fiery rocoto peppers stuffed with spiced beef, olives, and raisins, capped with melting cheese.
CevicheFresh white fish cured in lime "leche de tigre" with red onion, chili, and cilantro, Peru's national dish.
Browse all Peru recipes →
Good to know
Storing it: Keep chilled and covered, and enjoy within 2 to 3 days.
Make it a Peru meal
CevicheDinner
Suspiro a la LimeñaDessert
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Frequently asked questions
What is Pisco Sour?
Peru's national cocktail: pisco shaken with lime, syrup, and egg white to a silky foam, dashed with bitters.
Where does Pisco Sour come from?
Pisco Sour is a Peruvian dish from Lima, Peru.
Can Pisco Sour be made vegan, gluten-free, or dairy-free?
This Pisco Sour recipe includes substitution suggestions for vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, nut-free, egg-free, and pork-free versions, including several at once such as gluten-free and dairy-free together. Treat them as a starting guide rather than a guarantee, and see the allergen note below.
Is Pisco Sour safe for people with food allergies?
Our dietary labels and substitutions are a cooking guide, not medical or allergen-safety advice. We track dairy, egg, gluten, tree nuts and peanuts (we count coconut as a tree nut, following FDA labeling), fish, and shellfish, but we do not screen for sesame, soy, mustard, celery, or sulphites. If you have a food allergy, always read the label on every product you use, and remember a home or commercial kitchen can cross-contaminate ingredients in ways a recipe cannot control.
How long does Pisco Sour take to make?
About 5 minutes total (5 minutes prep, 0 minutes cooking), serving 1.
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