No. 67Off the Menu
Pickle Pisco Sour
Silky, tart and frothy, with a pinch of the jar under the foam.
The Pickle Pisco Sour is the Peruvian classic, pisco, lime, sugar and egg white shaken to a thick foam, with a quarter ounce of dill pickle brine. The grape brandy is floral, the lime is sharp and the brine adds a faint savory edge under the silky top. Aquafaba works in place of the egg white for a vegan version.
21+Updated
- Glass
- coupe
- Method
- Shaken
- Time
- 5 min
- Makes
- 1 drink
Ingredients
Amounts for 1, in ounces.
- 2 oz pisco (a Peruvian quebranta pisco is traditional)
- ¾ oz fresh lime juice
- ¾ oz simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water)
- ¼ oz dill pickle brine (strained, from the jar)
- 1 egg white (or 0.75 oz aquafaba)
- Angostura bitters (3 drops, to dot the foam) optional
- 1 slice dill pickle (on a pick, for garnish)
- Glass
- coupe
- Garnish
- pickle chip
How to make it
- Chill a coupe in the freezer or with ice water.
- Add the pisco, lime juice, simple syrup, pickle brine and egg white to a shaker without ice.
- Shake hard for 15 seconds to whip up the foam.
- Fill the shaker with ice and shake again for 10 seconds.
- Strain into the chilled coupe and let the foam settle for a moment.
- Dot the foam with drops of bitters and rest a pickle chip on the rim.
Bar tips
- Use a fresh egg, and pasteurized egg whites if you are serving anyone pregnant, elderly or immune-compromised.
- Keep the brine at a quarter ounce. Salt fights foam, and more than that knocks the head down.
- Aquafaba is the liquid from a can of chickpeas. It foams just like egg white and tastes of nothing once shaken.
Make it your own
- Use a dry, unaged brandy if you can’t find pisco.
- Use lemon instead of lime for a softer, rounder sour.
Bar lore
The pisco sour is usually credited to Victor Morris, an American bartender who ran Morris’ Bar in Lima, Peru, in the 1920s. Chile, which also makes pisco, has long claimed the drink as its own too.
Drink responsibly. This one is for adults of legal drinking age. Want it without the booze? The zero-proof drinks are just as briny.
Full recipe: dillin.org/recipes/pickle-pisco-sour
