PISCO DAY
On the fourth Sunday of July a Peruvian drink is honored throughout the country. This is the pisco, since 1999 through Ministerial Resolution No. 055-99-ITINCI / DM instituted this date in order to assess this drink that is Cultural Heritage of the Nation. Pisco is made with selected grape varieties, called «pisco grapes» that are crops in the region of Peru, such as: Lima, Ica (Pisco, Chincha and Ica), Arequipa, Moquegua and Tacna (Valles de Locumba), Sama and Caplina). On this date Peru can find many fairs, events and offers in restaurants and restaurants in the country, you can taste the wide variety of cocktails made with pisco (Pisco sour, Chilcano, Pisco Tonic, Andes Amables, Captain, Flip Peruvian, Cholopolitan, Algarrobina , Divine Passion, Aguaymanto, etc.)
Elaboration of pisco
After the harvest, the grapes must be very ripe, raisins. Once selected, they are ready for the pisa, where the grape juice is released and fermented, a process similar to wine. Then the must is removed to be distilled using a still. During those 4 hours, you must take into account the 78 degrees that must be reached for the boiling of the must. The first thing distilled is methyl alcohol, called «Cabeza» (200 to 500 cm3). The continuous liquid, known as «Body», goes between 79 ° C to 90 ° C (40 ° – 50 ° alcohol). «The Cola», which is the end, are the alcohols mixed with water. These must be eliminated because they spoil the «Body»
In Peru, pisco is defined as a brandy obtained by distilling fermented «pisco grapes» while using methods that follow the traditional principles of quality that have been established by the production areas recognized by the state.
Likewise, no additional ingredients are added to Peruvian pisco because it has regulations and laws that regulate production while Chilean liquor is mixed with sugar and distilled water to reach the level of alcohol that pisco should have.
Procedencia del nombre
Existen varias explicaciones de cómo el pisco obtuvo su nombre. Las principales son a raíz de palabra quecha pisqu que se utiliza para denominar a un ave que se encuentra en la región del Valle de Ica (Perú). Este vocablo del idioma inca también ha sido utilizado para nombrar a la ciudad de Pisco y a las ollas de barro precolombinas que se utilizaban para fermentar las uvas.
Algunos historiadores afirman que el aguardiente tomó el nombre de las vasijas de barro en las que se dejaban fermentar las uvas antes de su destilación mientras que otros aseguran que el nombre pisco se deriva del puerto de Pisco (en la ciudad del mismo nombre) donde podía comprarse esta bebida.
Pisco types
The varieties of pisco grapes that are used to make pisco are non-aromatic, among them; Broken, Mollar and Negra common, and aromatic as; Moscatel, Albilla, Italy and Torontel. While the pisco types are:
Pure Pisco: Made with non-aromatic grapes from a single variety, that’s why it’s called pure. It is usually made with grapes that break.
Pisco acholado: It is a mixture of non-aromatic grape musts with one or more varieties of aromatic grapes.
Pisco mosto verde: It is made with grapes that have not been fermented in its entirety.
Pisco aromático: It is made with one of the four Pisco aromatic grapes. These can be; Muscat, Italy, Albilla or Torontel. Pisco Sour, an indisputably Peruvian cocktail, is produced from these pisco types (especially pure pisco and acholado).