By Ed Sikov
“Oh, Pancho!”
“Oh, Pisco!” I knew I was being annoying, but that only spurred me on.
“Oh, Pancho!”
“Oh, Pisco!” My Mexican accent was becoming broader and more offensive with
every iteration.
“Oh, Pancho!”
Oh, P…”
“Stop it. Now.
If you say that irritating thing one more time I swear I’m going to pick you up
and defenestrate you.” Despite his excellent word choice, this was a surprising
threat of violence coming from Dan, who usually assumes the Longsuffering
Husband perspective and simply sighs with resignation.
“It’s classic
television history,” I sniffed, taking the pedantic perspective and feeling
suddenly huffy and put-out. “Didn’t you ever watch The Cisco Kid?”
“The Cisco
Kid?!” he said with a tone of stupefaction. “When was that even on? 1940? Even you, Methuselah, are too young for The Cisco Kid.”
“No need to turn
personal,” I chided. “If it weren’t for me and my nerdy friends, the entire
history of television would evaporate just like this.” I made a dramatic
poofing sound and looked outraged.
“OK, forget it.
I know when I’m licked.”
“Grrrr, tiger!”
I said and made an obscene licking gesture with my tongue.
“What is wrong
with you?” He turned and quickly headed to his computer. Having had my audience
walk out on me, I had no choice but to return to the kitchen and resume my
exploration into the liquor called Pisco.
Pisco is a type
of brandy that is fermented only in Chile and Peru. These two nations have been
feuding with each other for literally centuries over which one may claim to be
the original birthplace of the brandy. Pisco Punch, which is made of course
from Pisco, comes to us however from San Francisco, where it had the reputation
of being the most fashionable of that city’s cocktails in the late 1800. You
may also have heard of the cocktail called the Pisco Sour. It was invented in
Lima, Peru, and there appears to be no international kerfuffle over that fact.
I began my own
Pisco explorations by drinking it by itself, neat. Pisco Portón, the brand I
chose, is fine enough to drink solo; I can’t vouch for any rotgut Piscos one
might find at the local liquor store in the States or some roadhouse in Peru.
It’s got a kick
to it, this Pisco stuff! Reminiscent of grappa, it’s got a healthy burn when it
hits the mouth, but it immediately blossoms into a faint fruit taste – in this
case, the Muscat grapes, which serve as the liquor’s source. It goes down easy,
if you like it a bit rough. I mean to say, Pisco is a drinking person’s drink
when consumed by itself. It’s the kind of thing of which people remark, “That’ll
put hair on your chest.” I’ve been counting new ones on mine all week.
Pisco Neat:
Just pour a
healthy amount of room-temperature Pisco into a liqueur glass or brandy
snifter. I recommend Pisco Portón.
Ed Sikov is the
author of the e-book, The Boys' and Girls' Little Book of Alcohol, a novel
with recipes based on his Cocktail Chatter column.
