These favorites can be enjoyed in Lima, Rio and Buenos Aires, but also at home – the ingredients are easy to find!
Pisco Sour (Peru and Chile):
Peru and Chile will forever dispute which nation invented Pisco, the national alcohol of both nations. Let them argue, as long as they both keep producing Pisco, a sort of grape brandy. The Pisco Sour is probably the best-known of all of South America’s local drinks.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups Pisco
- ½ cup sugar
- ½ cup fresh lemon or lime juice
- 1 egg white
- 1 cup ice
- Angostura Bitters
- Lime wedges for garnish (optional)
- In a cocktail shaker or blender, mix the Pisco and sugar until the sugar dissolves completely. Add the lemon juice, egg white and ice. Blend until uniform and frothy.
- Serve in a whiskey glass. After you pour, wait a moment for the top to become frothy: add 1-3 drops of Angostura bitters for a little bit of flavor and presentation. Do not stir the bitters in: serve as is. Garnish with lime wedges. Serves 6.
Clericó is a wine punch much like traditional sangría: the biggest difference is that the Argentines prefer white wine as the base. They enjoy it as a refreshing break on hot days.
Ingredients:
- One bottle (750 ml) dry white wine
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- One orange, peeled, seeded and sliced
- One peach, peeled, pit removed, and cut into wedges
- One banana, peeled and sliced
- Several strawberries, stems off and sliced
- One apple, peeled, cored and cut into wedges
- ½ cup red or green grapes, seeded and sliced
- Juice of one lemon
- 12 ounces of club soda, Sprite or 7-up
- Ice
- Mix wine and sugar in a large pitcher: stir until sugar dissolves.
- Add the rest of the ingredients, stir, and allow to chill until cold.
- Add ice, serve in wine glasses.
- This recipe will serve 4-6 people.
- Tips: The fruits mentioned above can be substituted for what you have on hand: pears, grapefruit and others make fine additions to a Clericó.
Brazilians love a good caipirinha, a refreshing cocktail made with cachaça, the national drink of Brazil. Some liquor stores will carry it: call around in your area. If you absolutely cannot find it, you can substitute white rum.
Ingredients:
- cachaça
- Medium to large limes, one per drink you wish to make
- Extra-fine sugar
- Ice
- Slice the limes in half, then each half into quarters so you have eight small lime slices.
- Put the limes into a strong glass and add 2 tablespoons of sugar.
- Using a muddle, pestle, or wooden spoon, crush the limes and sugar together until the mixture is juicy and the sugar has dissolved.
- Add 2 ounces of cachaça and some ice.
- Cover top of glass with shaker and shake well.
- Pour directly into a rocks glass, do not strain.
Looking for some food to go with your drinks?: Check out my Guide to Traditional Peruvian Food
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