Happy Hour: Pisco Sour

This is my 200th blog post - hurrah! - so what better way to celebrate than with a cheeky cocktail! 

Pisco is a liqueur that hails from Peru - it's their national spirit, no less - and indeed I have used it once before on my blog (to cook meat in, of course! See Lomo Saltado) but if we're being honest with each other, Pisco is for drinking. The Pisco Sour is starting to sweep the nation as cocktail culture is growing massively up and down the country and the British public are no longer satisfied with just a mojito or a cosmo. The Pisco Sour to some extent does what it says on the tin in that it is sour and it is alcoholic but there's more to it than that... The sourness of the lime is counteracted by sweet sugar syrup, the foamy, thickness brought by the shaken egg white and of course the distinct fortified grape wine taste of the Pisco itself.

Perfect for parties or for a special treat at the end of a hard week, I love this cocktail and I'm sure you will too!

Happy Hour: Pisco Sour

Makes 1

For the sugar syrup:

225g sugar

175ml water

For the cocktail:

50ml pisco (grape brandy) 

50ml lime juice 

25ml sugar syrup 

1 dash bitters 

½ free-range egg white 

To make the sugar syrup, put the sugar and water in a small pan over a low–medium heat and allow the sugar to dissolve, then turn up the heat and let the mixture boil for a couple of minutes. Take the pan off the heat and set aside to cool completely.

To make a Pisco Sour, place all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake. Place a large ice cube into a short glass and strain over the Pisco Sour.

TIP: There will be more sugar syrup than you'll need but it can be found in many cocktail recipes and it can be stored in the fridge for a month.