Pisco Sour Heritage

Pisco is a grape spirit distilled in the coastal valleys of Ica, Lima, Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna, made to a strict standard: distilled once to proof, with nothing added, no water, no ageing in wood, from eight permitted grape varieties. The sour was created in Lima in the 1920s, generally credited to Victor Morris, an American who ran the Morris Bar on Jirón Boza, adapting the whiskey sour; the version that became standard - pisco, lime, sugar syrup, egg white, shaken and finished with a few drops of Angostura - was refined at the Maury and Bolívar hotels afterwards. It is drunk everywhere, has a national day on the first Saturday of February, and is the subject of a long-running dispute with Chile over the name pisco, which both countries claim. Peru's case rests on the port and town of Pisco and on continuous production there since the sixteenth century.

What you actually see

• The spirit - distilled once to proof, unaged, with nothing added.
• The 1920s origin - the Morris Bar in Lima, adapting the whiskey sour.
• The build - pisco, lime, syrup, egg white and a few drops of Angostura.
• The name dispute - a long argument with Chile over who may call it pisco.

When to go

Year-round. The first Saturday of February is national pisco sour day. Bodega tours in Ica and Moquegua include tastings.

Honest expectations

It contains raw egg white, which matters for some people. Pisco is around forty per cent alcohol and the sour goes down easily - two is plenty at altitude. Quality varies enormously; cheap bars use industrial mix rather than fresh lime.

Nearby

Ica and Moquegua have the bodegas; Lima has the bars where the drink was made.