The Spirited Traveller: Lima Is Open All Hours for Pisco
Pisco drinkers owe much to the conquistadores of Spain, who brought their culture to South America. That included importing grapevines which are not indigenous to the continent, and the delightful tradition known as the midday siesta.
For travellers to Lima, this means long, often boozy lunch breaks and late nights that might start and end with pisco.
"We tend to have a couple of drinks before lunch, wine at lunch, and then top it off with a sip of pisco," explains Johnny Schuler, the Lima-based master distiller at Pisco Portón. After a break lasting from around 1pm to 3.30pm, many return to the office until around 8pm.
"Then we go home, take a shower, go out to dinner, order a couple of drinks... and talk business."
Dinner is typically eaten at 9 or 10pm. As such, Schuler categorises certain pisco drinks as those to drink "before 3pm" and others to quaff in the later hours of the evening.
Although the Pisco Sour - a frothy concoction of fragrant pisco, egg white and citrus, topped with a colourful dash or two of bitters - is Peru's best-known cocktail, it's far from the only one. For example, Schuler is partial to the Chicano, which mixes pisco with lime juice and ginger ale. "It's more of a noon long drink, like a Collins," he describes.
Meanwhile, his preferred aperitif is the Manhattan-like Capitan, in which pisco is shaken with sweet vermouth (recipe below). "For me, it's an after-dark drink," Schuler says. "Before dinner, I would drink a Capitan."
The Ole Bar (Pancho Fierro 110, San Isidro) is Schuler's favoured spot to drink Capitanes. The service is "absolutely beautiful," he says. "They bring a small silver plated ice bucket, a miniature silver shaker and your empty glass on the side. You serve yourself as you drink, so it never gets warm."
Another favoured daytime spot is La Rosa Náutica (Espigón 4, Miraflores) at the end of a prominent pier. This is a place "to sit down with a client and get down to serious business," Schuler says. However, with its expansive views of the Pacific Ocean, others might consider the venue more conducive to watching the waves break with a glass of pisco never far from reach.
After dark, Schuler recommends the wood-panelled English Bar at the Country Club Hotel (), a popular after-work spot, where barman Roberto Melendez is reputed to make one of the best Pisco Sours around; or the super-chic La Gloria () restaurant.
Luckily for those living outside of Peru, pisco is now widely available and a growing number of bars are experimenting with it. Now, if only we could convince more countries to adopt the siesta as the typical workday schedule.
Although this is the classic recipe, Schuler encourages tipplers to adjust the drink for personal preference, adding extra pisco for a drier drink, or more vermouth for a sweeter version.
1 ½ ounce pisco, such as Pisco Portón
1 ½ ounce sweet (red) vermouth
1 dash Angostura bitters
Maraschino cherry, for garnish
In a mixing glass, combine pisco, vermouth, bitters and ice. Stir until chilled then strain into a martini glass. Garnish with cherry.
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