The Best Pisco Sour in Peru

Backpacking for the ultimate Peruvian cocktail

I recently returned from a fortnight backpacking around the beautiful and diverse country of Peru, home of the infamous “Pisco Sour.” As a lover of both unnecessary effort and delicious alcoholic drinks, I decided to spend my trip reporting on the intricacies and differences of Sours I drank at each stop along the way. In this pursuit, I found myself destined on a journey to find the best Pisco Sour in (Southern) Peru.

Now, this is normally the place in a body of text where I would begin by recounting the history and lore of this beloved beverage, highlighting its development through time and region. In reality, I know very little about its origins—and while I love a good trip down research lane, I just came back from 14 days of backpacking and I’m not in the mood to add myself extra homework. What I can tell you, is that pisco—the featured ingredient in a Pisco Sour, is a liquor made from distilled fermented grapes in Peru and Chile, coming to fruition at some point after the arrival of the Spanish to South America. The difference between pisco and wine, is that pisco adds the additional step of distillation not present in winemaking. The Pisco Sour, a featured drink across modern day Peru, is made using pisco (obviously), egg whites, lemon or lime juice, and simple syrup.

My journey began in the capital city of Lima, a coastal gastronomic hot spot with neighborhoods as diverse as Peru itself. We stayed in an artsy little zone known as Barranco, where I had the pleasure of taste testing my first few Sours. Now, my Spanish isn’t remarkable—I make a lot of grammatical errors, misgender my nouns, and struggle to translate spoken word (text I can do much easier). However, “Pisco Sour, classico” is a phrase transcending language barriers between patrons and staff. No matter how many other phrases I missed, or questions I answered incorrectly, I never had any issues requesting this little order. This is good, because most restaurant staff I interacted with spoke little English at most (often none). This was actually something I loved about Peru, as I felt it improved my ability to communicate in Spanish, and made me look really cool and fluent in front of my non-Spanish speaking fiancé.

The very first Pisco Sour I ever tasted, was at a lovely little restaurant called El Cachafaz, specializing in what appeared to be wine and steaks. It was hard to judge this first sour, having nothing to compare it to for reference. That said, I really enjoyed it. The delightful froth from the egg white, the kick of the pisco, the tart sweetness of the sour mix—I discovered quickly that this was a dangerous beverage for a cocktail lover like me.

I loved the little design on this first sour, garnished using bitters, as it added a level of presentation I appreciate in an alcoholic beverage (or any beverage, really). This sour was blended with ice, a detail I didn’t see repeated at any other spot I ordered from in Peru, and even as someone who doesn’t love blended drinks, I noted that the texture in this drink was lovely. I gave this first Pisco Sour a bold 8/10, despite it being my first and only experience with the drink.

Next up, armed with my new found appreciation for Pisco, I ordered a classic sour at our Hostel in Lima. This hostel, Kokopelli, is in a fascinating old building with domed ceilings and stained glass features. One of the most beautiful buildings we stayed in on our trip. The hostel has an attached bar, which opens to the public in the evening for food, drinks, and karaoke. We had one pretty consistent bartender throughout our time here, a sweet young man named Mauricio who took great care of us throughout our stay.

Another drink with a beautiful garnish design, this sour only increased my love for Peruvian cocktails. It was NOT blended (one point!), had a good frothy texture, and a lovely taste. I would describe the taste of this sour to almost be floral. Mauricio shared that he makes this drink with a secret little ingredient, passion (not to be confused with passionfruit). I’m not positive how exactly he adds this secret ingredient, but you can really taste it in this Pisco Sour, which ranks at a strong 9/10.

My third Pisco Sour of Lima was ordered at a fantastic little restaurant, Republica Del Pisco. This restaurant was so good we actually returned here on our last day in Peru, when we returned to Lima. Our server both times, Johnny, was a wonderful man who even remembered us when we returned the second time. He recognized and greeted us with one word, “Canada?” Yes, that’s us. Johnny was a learner of English, and I a learner of Spanish, so we had great fun repeating sentences to each other, teaching each other words, and checking our pronunciation. Additionally, the food here was to die for. We enjoyed alpaca burgers, diverse croquettes (shrimp, beef, cheese, chicken), and one of my new favourite Peruvian snacks, salted chulpe corn.

The garnish on this sour was nothing fancy, just a dot of bitters, and I found the taste to be a bit sweeter than previous sours. I think it was a bit sweeter than my preference (I was already beginning to develop a particular taste—what a snob), and was a little low on the froth level. I still enjoyed and drank the whole thing, so this Pisco Sour got a final rating of 7.5/10.

I drank 3 more Sours from the Kokopelli hostel bar later this night.

Our backpacking adventure next brought us to the second largest city in Peru, Arequipa, which clusters around the base of an intimidating volcano known as Misti. This city is surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountains and unique architecture, constructed almost entirely by a white volcanic rock known as sillar. It’s this material use that gives this place its nickname, “the White City.” Arequipa was warm and sunny, albeit a little smoky due to forest fires blowing smoke south from the Amazon, and was a really charming place to stay.

My first Pisco Sour in Arequipa was ordered from a restaurant in the heart of Plaza de Armas known as La Serena. One negative about this restaurant was that salesmen are permitted to stroll the patio and try to sell their wares to tourists, so you have to get used to saying “no thank you” a lot. We did end up buying a couple of items and also tipping the wonderful musicians who played for us as we ate lunch.

This sour also played it safe in the garnish game, with just 4 little dots of bitters topping the froth. On the topic of froth, I also found this Sour froth to be a bit more bubbly than frothy…a detail I think may have been caused by over shaking. This was another sweeter variation, but I did find it to taste very refreshing, so I forgave the extra sweetness. Also of note, this was the only place where the Pisco Sour was served to me with a straw. I won’t lie, it felt wrong. Overall, I enjoyed this sour and gave it a whopping 8/10.

Up next, we went to a place I expected to have one of the best sours in Peru, Museo Del Pisco in Arequipa. We were initially disappointed, as we looked up a menu online but then found that they had a very limited food menu that was almost entirely fish (not big fish eaters, sorry everyone). We were starving, but filled up on olives to order drinks before we moved on to find a proper dinner.

To start, this sour was garnished with a little design. It looks a little blown out, but I figure maybe it sat a minute at the bar waiting, so I don’t fault them for that. This sour had a great froth, making the texture a highlight of the drink. However, I did feel that the sour flavour was more lime-oriented than lemon-oriented, which I think becomes a pattern in the sours that I like vs dislike, as I’m not a huge fan of unsweetened lime flavour. This doesn’t mean the sours that use lime are necessarily wrong or less good, but I enjoy them significantly less. Overall, I gave this Pisco Sour a 7/10. Quick note, however, my wife ordered a pisco punch, which was DELICIOUS.

We then found ourselves wandering to find a restaurant to eat dinner at. Fueled by hunger, and a little bit of booze, we headed towards another restaurant with charming patio seating in the street. We had great food and another delicious cocktail at this restaurant, the name of which escapes me. It was the sister restaurant of 13 Monjas, and it had a bathroom stall with 360 degree mirrors and funky purple lighting.

I drank this lovely cocktail, which I assume was a Pisco Sour. However, I failed to take any notes or have any useful memories of this drink, other than it being delicious. Maybe it wasn’t even a sour. I have no idea. Blame it on the last Pisco Sour being on an empty stomach. Moving on.

Up next, we spent a few late night hours in the city of Cusco before waking up early to begin our Machu Picchu journey. Because it was already late and we had to be up at 4am, we ate dinner in the restaurant of our very fancy hotel, Los Portales.

I remember really enjoying this sour. It had a simple garnish design, just three dots, and a really great sweet to sour ratio. While the flavour was wonderful, my one critique would be that there wasn’t as much froth as I would like. Perhaps not quite enough egg white used when shaking. Because of the lack of enough froth, I rated this sour as an 8/10. Quick note that I remember dinner at this location being wonderful. Honestly, that could be a theme throughout; if you only need one reason to go to Peru, go because of the food. It really is a gastronomic delight at every stop.

Next, we headed to Aguas Caliente, and did a quick, casual visit up to the world wonder, Machu Picchu. If you can’t detect the sarcasm, nothing about visiting this Inca city is either quick or casual. We bought our tickets months in advance, stood in line to buy bus tickets, stood in line to board the bus, stood in line for the bathroom (2 soles), stood in line to enter, and then needed to stand in line yet again to bus back down to Aguas Caliente. Despite the bore of the process, visiting Machu Picchu was truly amazing. The towering mountains and deep valleys are a beautiful backdrop for a richly historic archaeological site—and as a former archaeologist, this is my kind of activity. Now, you didn’t read this for a review on Machu Picchu, so I’ll move on.

Instead of waiting for the bus back down to AC, we chose to eat lunch at the fancy (and expensive) restaurant in the Sanctuary Lodge Hotel. This is not to be confused with the buffet restaurant near the MP entrance, but instead is tucked away on the inside of the only hotel at the top of Machu Picchu.

This sour starts off strong with presentation. Firstly, I love a coupe glass, and secondly, they used the bitters to draw a little image of the famous Machu Picchu mountain, Huayna Picchu. Maybe this is touristy of me, but I thought it was very charming (and hey, I am a tourist, after all). Overall, this sour had good flavour, but I did think it could be sweeter, and I think it fell into the same problem of having not quite enough froth for my taste. Because the presentation was so fun, I still rated this sour at an 8/10. Plus, who am I to complain? I drank the whole thing and enjoyed it (maybe I’m not meant to be a food critic).

Back down the hill in Aguas Caliente, we grabbed dinner in a restaurant known as El Museo de la Papa. I cheated with this one, and thought I would try a passionfruit variation of the Pisco Sour. As you will soon read, I regretted that decision.

The garnish design was pretty, and any effort gets points with me. However, I really did not enjoy the flavour of the passionfruit sour. I found it much too sweet, and missing a lot of the things I really enjoyed about the classic. I had trouble even finishing this one and had to have the wife help me so I could quickly order a classic sour instead. I gave this one a 6/10.

The classic sour was back to the taste that I enjoy. We start off with an even prettier garnish than the one that came before, and a taste that made me forget all about the passionfruit fiasco that predated it. I enjoyed the taste and gave it a higher review of 8/10.

With that, I was off to return to the Sacred Valley, staying two nights in a charming little town, Ollantaytambo. This was probably my favourite place we stayed in Peru. For once, the sounds of traffic and honking didn’t keep us up at night, and once you get away from the train station this town felt so much quieter than everywhere else we had been before. The views were incredible—archaeological sites perching in the mountains all around you. This town isn’t great for cars, since it still follows the original Inca layout, but it is easy to walk anywhere you need to go. Visiting Ollantaytambo was truly a major highlight of our stay in Peru.

We were already hungry for lunch when we arrived and checked in to our hotel, so we decided to grab a bite just down the road at a place called Nina Del Valle. We both got the largest bowl of soup we had ever seen, and I followed with a yummy pasta entrée. I really ate a LOT of pasta in Peru, as I recommend everyone to do.

Their sour impressed me. While the presentation was weaker—just two little dots, I was finally getting the froth levels I was desiring from my beverage. This sour also had an excellent flavour, earning a whopping score of 9/10. Maybe it was the refreshing feeling of being in a town I liked so much, a little loopiness from the altitude, or maybe the influence of my great lunch, but this sour really did something for me. It didn’t pretend to be something it wasn’t, or dress itself up with fancy lies. This was a humble and delicious Pisco Sour.

The next day, we had lunch in an adorable restaurant around the corner, Chullpi. This restaurant had a low ceiling of grasses and fabric, along with charming decoration. We sat near the front door where we met a very sweet stray dog that knew we were suckers and waited patiently throughout our meal for his inevitable gift of leftover meat. Also a note, this restaurant gifted us a little custom key chain when we paid. It was a great tough and we brought it home as a souvenir.

Now for the Pisco Sour. Forgive me, but I took a few sips before remembering to snap a photo of this guy. You didn’t miss out on any fancy garnish, just three dots of bitters, but where this sour shined was in that lovely inch of froth. Also of note, this was the only place that served my sour in a wine glass. Here’s a pet peeve of mine: sometimes when you shake and strain a cocktail, inferior strainers allow chunks of ice to slip through and make it into your drink. This was a situation I met with this sour, where it had odd sized ice chunks and I couldn’t exactly figure out if it was intentional ice, or a poor straining job. Overall, that dropped the score down to a 7/10.

Next we headed back to Lima before travelling south on the next leg of our journey. While in Lima we had a great pasta lunch at La 73, full of clams and wine and all things wonderful.

The sour, however, left a little to be desired. I enjoyed the rounded shape of this glass, and I did enjoy the taste, but it was a bit stronger tasting than those that came before it. I think there is a delicate balance of sweet, sour, and alcoholic aromas in a sour, and this one was a touch too alcoholic in taste. I normally don’t shy away from a strong tasting beverage, and I still enjoyed the whole thing, but it is a critique I would note. This sour also had the simplest design yet, just one lonely dot, and also struggled with the poor strainer problem of having small bits of ice in the drink. It finalized with a rating of 7/10.

My next sours were tasted in the charming coastal city of Paracas, a center point for many surrounding tours such as the Ballestas Islands, Huacachina, and the Paracas National Reserve. This town was sweet, with a light coastal salt in the air. I will say, it is one of the places we got frequently stopped, yelled at, and whistled at, in attempts to sell us tours. I will also add that the beach could get pretty fragrant from seaweed when you got close. Also, there was a particularly irritating rooster nearby that woke us up bright and early at around 4am.

Now this is where things started to go sour…pun intended. We had our first meal at Puerto Gloria, where the fried fish smell stopped us in our tracks and lured us into the restaurant. We had a good meal with massive portions, but this is where I found my first undrinkable Pisco Sour. Sorry Gloria.

This sour started strong with a lime wheel garnish, which I found very cute. Unfortunately, it tasted like far too much egg white was used in this drink, as the foam was astronomical, and the egg white flavour was crippling. It also had a lime-heavy sour flavour (as we’ve learned, not my fav), and not enough simple syrup to compensate. I originally gave this drink a 6, but retrospectively this is one of the only sours I actually could not finish, so I think I need to demote it down to a 5/10.

We did end up grabbing a disappointing dinner at Restaurant Paracas, which we only went to because we had a discount, and I got another Pisco Sour there that I did not finish or photograph. It was, again, lime dominant in flavour, and not sweet enough to make the lime drinkable.

After spending the next day touring all that the surrounding area could offer us (boat tour, dune buggies, sandboarding, wine tasting) we took the long bus back to Lima, where we slept and had our final day in Peru before boarding a red eye flight home. I had been reflecting throughout this last day where the best Pisco Sour in (southern) Peru had been served to me. Upon reflecting on my notes, I determined that my favourite sour was actually one of my earliest ones—from Kokopelli hostel. We decided on that last day to wander back to Kokopelli and share with them that sweet Mauricio was responsible for making me the best Pisco Sour in Peru, ensuring that he gets some credit and praise for his work. With that important task out of the way, we headed back to Republica Del Pisco to visit with Johnny and have our last Peruvian meal. So instead of a Pisco Sour, I mixed it up and tried a sampler of Chilcanos, another Peruvian drink made with pisco.

I was able to choose my own flavours from a substantial list of options, so left to right, I got eucalyptus-honey , classic, citrus, strawberry, and passionfruit-mango. First of all, wow that is a huge sampler and a great way to end my trip. My favourites from the sampler were the eucalyptus, the strawberry, and the classic. I did drink a few bottled Chilcanos throughout our trip, but this was a whole different ballgame. Overall, an excellent way to spend our last meal in Peru. Also to note, our red eye flight (LATAM) from Lima to LAX offered FREE WINE on the plane. LATAM on multiple occasions proved itself superior to Canadian airlines.

If you made it this far, get back to work. Regardless, I thank you for taking time to read this long blog post and I encourage you to try your own Pisco Sour next time you stop in Peru. Let me know where I went wrong and where the best Pisco Sour truly is served (maybe in the Amazon, where I never got to visit?) Or maybe, try to make yourself a little Pisco Sour at home. I know I’m going to be on the search to find a bottle I can try to use at home to compare to the great drinks I tasted on my travels. Until next time,

Rikki.