A pisco sour is an alcoholic cocktail of Peruvian origin that is traditional to Peruvian cuisine. The drink's name comes from pisco, a brandy which is its base liquor, and the cocktail term sour, implying sour citrus juice and sweetener components. The Peruvian pisco sour uses Peruvian pisco and adds freshly squeezed lime juice, simple syrup, ice, egg white, and Angostura bitters. The Chilean version is similar, but uses Chilean pisco and Pica lime, and excludes the bitters and egg white. Other variants of the cocktail include those created with fruits like pineapple or plants such as coca leaves.
Although the preparation of pisco-based mixed beverages possibly dates back to the 1700s, historians and drink experts agree that the cocktail as it is known today was invented in the early 1920s in Lima, the capital of Peru, by the American bartender Victor Vaughen Morris. Chile also has designated regions of pisco production within its territory, but claims exclusivity of the liquor under the name "Pisco Chile."
History
Background
thumb|right|alt= Aerial photograph| The [[Plaza de toros de Acho (Lima), the oldest bullring in the Americas, where the predecessor to the pisco sour was sold]]
The first grapevines were brought to Peru shortly after its conquest by Spain in the 16th century. Spanish chroniclers from the time note the first winemaking in South America took place in the hacienda Marcahuasi of Cuzco. The largest and most prominent vineyards of the 16th and 17th century Americas were established in the Ica valley of south-central Peru. distilled from fermented grapes. Since at least 1764, Peruvian aguardiente was called "pisco" after its port of shipping; the usage of the name "pisco" for aguardiente then spread to Chile.