OLD WORLD GRAPES NEW WORLD SPIRIT
 Pisco is to Peru what Tequila is to Mexico

Origin: The first quebranta grapes, still used in the manufacture of Pisco, were planted on the coastline of Peru by Spanish Conquistadors in the mid 1500s . Thanks to an Incan masterpiece of irrigation engineering that brings water from the Andes via canals, the grapes were able to thrive - even though the actual growing area is essentially desert. When King Phillip II of Spain banned the production of wine in Peru, farmers turned their vines into a creative alternative- a flavorful and potent brandy distilled in alembic pots from the juice of the grapes. Because it is not aged, Pisco is clear. And the proof is not regulated.

Name: Merchants from the seaport town of Pisco south of Lima carried the beverage north to San Francisco in large clay pots also called “Piskos”. Hence, a new, generic alcoholic spirit was born. Coincidentally, the native Quechua word "pisko" means bird- as in the stylized wings of our logo.

“Compounded of the shavings of cherubs' wings, the glory of a tropical dawn, the red clouds of sunset…” - Rudyard Kipling, 1889

SF Connection: Many don’t realize the strong ties that existed between Peru and San Francisco in the 1800s. In fact, the Italian born Domingo Ghirardelli first prospered as a confectioner in Lima before moving his Peruvian wife and family to San Francisco, where he launched the world famous chocolate company in 1852.

As for Pisco brandy- it quickly became a popular drink thanks to its unique flavor and potency. In the late 1800s Duncan Nicol, proprietor of the Bank Exchange Saloon (where the Transamerica Pyramid now stands), concocted one of the earliest American cocktails- “Pisco Punch” - thereby earning him a loyal clientele and a place in cocktail history.

Pisco Punch gained fame worldwide thanks to pieces written by travelers including Mark Twain and Harold Ross (founder of “New Yorker” magazine). In Rudyard Kipling’s 1889 epic “From Sea to Sea”, he immortalized Pisco Punch as being “compounded of the shavings of cherub’s wings, the glory of a tropical dawn, the red clouds of sunset and the fragments of lost epics by dead masters.” Unfortunately, Prohibition closed the doors of the Bank Exchange; and Duncan Nicol died soon thereafter.

Pisco Punch Resurrected: Luckily Prohibition passed and in 2006, after painstaking research, Nicol's original recipe for Pisco Punch was rediscovered by Pisco Latin Lounge’s co owner and resident historian Guillermo Toro- Lira. To read more about his discovery and the historical figures involved – see www.piscopunch.com where you can also purchase the book “Wings of Cherubs”. As one reviewer said:

Pisco Punch is the core protagonist in this broad, heartfelt, often leapfrogging account of how San Francisco came into being as a cosmopolitan American city and stayed that way. Mr. Toro-Lira gets beneath the skin of Mark Twain’s drinking habits, Latin Americans rushing for gold, Junipero Serra’s missions, Peruvian navigator Don Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, pre-Columbian agriculture, and much more.

Pisco Today: Used as the basis for several refreshing and colorful drinks, including Pisco Sour and the Incapolitan, Pisco is imported into the US from several producers (displayed in our Pisco shrine) including Inca Gold Pisco which was first commercially produced in 1776.