Pisco, in case you didn’t know, has inspired a war in South America. Chile and Peru both claim the tart, delicious pisco sour as their national drink, but the piscos of each country are different.
This Saturday (2/6), KAPPA Pisco, created by the folks at Grand Marnier, is sponsoring Pisco Sour Day across Brooklyn so you can taste this war-worthy spirit in a variety of exciting cocktails. Grab a group of drinking buddies and check out these destinations, or sample their pisco cocktail recipes below.
If you’re a pisco lover, you know that pisco, an unaged brandy, can be funky, herbal, tangy, floral or lemony, depending on the brand. KAPPA is a Chilean pisco, which means it has to be made of one of three grapes, and in KAPPA’s case, it’s muscat.
When I tasted KAPPA straight, it felt bright, floral and citrusy, and not as strong or funky as other piscos. With this pisco, you needn’t just stick to a pisco sour, and the bartenders highlighting it this Saturday across Brooklyn have created a few different recipes.
At Donna (27 Broadway) in Williamsburg, mixologist Jeremy Oertel has created a classic pisco sour recipe with a fun topper, combining KAPPA pisco, lime, lemon, simple syrup, egg and a white angostura bitters float.
When I visited Donna, Collin was behind the bar test running several cocktails for Pisco Sour Day. “KAPPA is a little bit fruitier and more floral,” he said. “I love this in a classic pisco sour, but it’s great for fruity summer drinks too.”
Donna is serving a version of a white negroni this weekend, using KAPPA as a stand-in for gin. With pisco, Cocchi Americano, Suze, yellow chartreuse, aloe vera and orange bitters, this is a gentle yet assertive summer drink that will transport you away from a New York winter. Citrusy, bright and herbaceous, it’s as if European liquor took a vacation in a South American orange grove and let its hair down.
You probably know tiki drinks are back after many years of hiatus and the close of tiki bars such as Painkiller on the Lower East Side. Many of you already spend your bar time pretending you’re on a tropical island at spots such as The Commodore and Broken Land.
Well, Donna is serving an even more tropical drink with pisco, one that takes the pina colada and turns it on its head. You have your pisco, and then instead of a
Caribbean rum, you have a Javanese molasses-brewed alcohol similar to rum called batavia arrack. There is coconut, but instead of just pineapple, you also have passionfruit and peach for a less acidic, sweeter touch, with a few drops of vanilla and a sparkle of cava. This is an entirely devourable, well-balanced cocktail that is fun while maintaining a sense of elegance.
Here are the recipes from four bars serving special KAPPA pisco cocktails this Saturday in honor of Pisco Sour Day. They are all also serving a pisco sour variation.
Donna
KAPPA Pisco Sour by Jeremy Oertel ($10)
2 oz KAPPA Pisco
.5 oz Lime
.5 oz Lemon
.75 oz Simple
1 Egg White
Angostura Bitters Float
Method: Dry shake, then shake with ice. Fine strain into a coupe and garnish with four drops of Angostura bitters.
Featherweight
Patagonia Punch by Johnny De Piper ($12)
1 oz KAPPA Pisco
1 oz Lime
.5 oz Orgeat
.5 oz Genepy
1 oz Clement Premier Canne
Method: Shake and serve in an old-fashioned glass, on the rocks, with a lime wheel.
Leyenda
Buena Onda by Ivy Mix ($12)
2 oz KAPPA infused with Yerba mate (15 minutes and strain)
.5 oz lemon
.5 oz lime
.75 simple
.5 egg white
3 dashes hopped grapefruit bitters (Bittermans)
Method: Dry shake, ice, shake, strain into a coupe with ango hearts garnish.
Grand Army
KAPPA Pisco Sour by Damon Boelte ($13)
2 oz KAPPA Pisco
.75 oz simple
.5 oz lime
.24 oz lemon
1 egg white
Method: Add first six ingredients to a cocktail shaker. Dry shake. Add ice and shake hard and well. Strain into a coupe glass and garnish with a dash of Amargo Chuncho.