Travis Smith: my resume, bio and photos back to the main blog page

Pisco Sour: Peru’s Official Drink

posted at 12:01 am
on May. 1, 2004

Comments: 4 so far

Permalink

 

Previous entry:
Taxis in Lima, Peru

Next entry:
The Jazz Kitchen Horror

Peru’s official drink is the pisco sour.  By official, I mean I never found a restaurant that didn’t serve them, and even the cocktail party at the American ambassador’s house served three drinks: red wine, white wine and pisco sours.

(Side note: While there for a jazz shindig, I was tempted to steal the wine glass etched with the seal of the embassy, but then I remembered all the guys with guns guarding the place—and the likelihood of a taxi collision on the ride home. So I stole a napkin, but later used it at a restaurant that didn’t have bathroom tissue. I feel sure I have now broken some provision of the Patriot Act…)

Pisco comes in a glass the size of a water tumbler. It usually contains two ice cubes, a dollop of beaten egg whites, a little lemon juice, and enough pisco to cauterize a wound.

At 50-60 proof, pisco has a kick to it.  But it’s not smokey or bitter like American mash, and after the very first swallow, it numbs the tongue and sends scouts to the part of your brain responsible for making sense.  There, they set up a perimeter and cut the phone wires to the rest of your brain.

By the time reinforcements arrive in the form of a second and third sip, your ability to stop drinking pisco has already been totally neutralized, and the rest of the pisco army goes directly into the areas of your brain responsible for making you stay out late, crave greasy food, and negotiate rates poorly with taxi drivers.  On the plus side, you become able to speak Spanish fluently, or so it seemed to me.

It doesn’t make you sleepy, nor does it apparently make you invisible, much to my disappointment and later chagrin.

I planned to bring a bottle back, at least after my first two nights (night one: one drink of pisco, night two: two drinks), but then I had a whole three drinks in one night, and even though the pictures on my digital camera prove that I had a very good time, I had a physical aversion to the pisco shelf at the duty free and so must be content with my memories.



 
 

 

Previous entry:
Taxis in Lima, Peru

Next entry:
The Jazz Kitchen Horror

Overheard

“The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.”

...who said it?

“Almost every American I know does trade large portions of his life for entertainment, hour by weeknight hour, binge by Saturday binge, Facebook check by Facebook check. I’m one of them. In the course of writing this I’ve watched all 13 episodes of House of Cards and who knows how many more West Wing episodes, and I’ve spent any number of blurred hours falling down internet rabbit holes. All instead of reading, or writing, or working, or spending real time with people I love.”

...who said it?

“Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you will be gone, but will have lived a noble life that will live on in the memories of your loved ones.”

...who said it?

“I play with variables constantly.”

...who said it?

“Only the person who has learned Continual Love coming from a heart of Gratitude/Worship can effectively deal with the problem of loneliness.”

...who said it?

Comments

 

 

Add a Comment

 

 

Name:


Email: (optional)


URL: (optional)


Submit the word you see below:


 

 

 

Your comment:


Remember my personal info


Email me about follow-ups


 

Syndication Links


Click here for the main
XML feed for this blog.



Column only



Side links only



Quotes only

 

MetaBlogs

AboutBlogs

Clients

Humor

Journalism

Los Angeles

Mac

News

Personal 1

Personal 2

Photos

Politics

Other A-F

Other G-Q

Other R-Z

SocialNetworking

Tech 1

Tech 2

Travel

Vancouver 1

Vancouver 2

Vancouver 3

Vancouver 4

BizBlogs

Back to Main

 

Powered by
Expression Engine

 

Copyright 1995 - 2024 Mar 29

 

 

Want Column?

Enter your email address:


It will NEVER be shared.
Unsubscribe

You can scroll right easily by holding down the SHIFT key and using your scroll wheel. (Firefox users trying this will end up jumping to old Web pages until a) Firefox releases a fix, b) they change their settings like so.)