Peruvian Pisco containers - Traditional clay containers for fermenting and storing Peruvian Pisco in Ica, Peru

Souvenir Pisco Bottle from Ica, Peru - Souvenir Pisco Bottle from Ica, Peru

Peruvian Pisco fountain - Peruvian Pisco flowing through fountain in the main main square of Lima, Peru

Serving Pisco in Pirwa Restaurant in Csuco - Serving Peruvian Pisco in the bar of Pirwa Restaurant in Cusco

6 Things You Didn't Know About Pisco

You may have downed countless Pisco Sours, or stocked up on souvenir bottles from your last trip to Peru, but perhaps you never heard of the one day of the year in which Lima’s central fountain is filled with a thousand liters of the spirit so that anyone can serve themselves and drink… In fact, her

No traveler to Peru makes it far without imbibing the national cocktail, the Pisco Sour, and many like it enough to exit Peru with a souvenir bottle or two of pisco, one of the country’s main exports. You might think you know Pisco, but perhaps you never heard of the one day of the year in which Lima’s central fountain is filled with a thousand liters of the spirit so that anyone can serve themselves and drink… Here are 6 things you didn’t know about Pisco:

1. The Spanish conquistadores brought the first grapevines to Peru, and introduced the making of wine and spirits from these grapes along the country’s desert coast, especially in the Ica region and, within it, the city of Pisco and its surrounding countryside.

2. There’s a long-standing, contentious debate between Peru and Chile regarding the origin of the clear grape brandy known as pisco, but Peru has the upper hand because it has official Designation of Origin for pisco.

3. Pisco is often described as the Peruvian version of brandy. It’s made by distilling fermented grape juice, but as it’s not aged in oak barrels it doesn’t have any color.

4. The name comes from both a town in Peru and the clay pots (piskos) in which the spirit was stored and exported originally. In Quechua, the word referred to a local bird.

5. Pisco is so popular in Peru that the drink enjoys two days: National Pisco Day is celebrated on the third Sunday of July and Pisco Sour Day is celebrated on the first Saturday of February. On the latter, the colonial fountain in Lima’s historic main square (the Plaza Mayor) is filled with a thousand liters of Pisco so that anyone can serve themselves and drink.

6. There are 3 types of Pisco: pisco puro is made solely from Quebranta grapes, pisco acholado is a blend of 2 different distillates of different grapes, and mosto verde (‘green must’), wherein the fermentation of the grape juice is halted before all of the sugars are converted.

Fecha de Publicación: 28/09/2015