Pisco Sour: Coincidence or Influence?
Placeres magazine edition No 15 grateful for the opportunity
While reading a cocktail book, I came across an interesting fact about “Sours.” The 1862 book How to Mix Drinks by bartender Jerry Thomas is cited as a reference, although the combination of a spirit, lemon, and sugar already existed before. The word Sour means acidic in English. In mixology, it refers to the combination of citrus juices with simple syrup, balancing
sweetness and acidity. According to Thomas, the basic formula is 1 1/2 to 2 ounces of spirit, 3/4 ounce of lemon or lime juice, and 3/4 ounce of a sweetener. For proper dilution, the drink is shaken with ice for 10 seconds. This original recipe does not include egg white.
The Whiskey Sour is one of the first cocktails to bear this name, registered in 1862, though it may have originated earlier. By 1870, a newspaper in Wisconsin already mentioned it, highlighting its popularity in the U.S. There were also the Brandy Sour and the Gin Sour. It is believed that the Brandy Sour preceded the Whiskey Sour and was widely consumed in both the U.S.
and Europe. The Boston Sour, created in Boston at the end of the 19th century, was the first version of the Sours to include egg white. Thus, we can state that the Sours were born in the United States in the second half of the 19th century, and that egg white was added later, with the Boston Sour.
This brings me to a question: When was egg white introduced into the Pisco Sour?
This cocktail was created at the Morris
Bar by Victor Morris, a U.S. citizen who came to Peru in the early 20th century to work in
Cerro de Pasco and later returned to Lima to enter the cocktail business. In the late 1910s (1916), Morris opened his bar on Calle Boza No. 847 in Lima, naming it Morris Bar. As we know, the original Sour recipes did not include egg white.
It is assumed that in its early years, the Morris Bar used the original Whiskey Sour recipe, likely without egg white, at least until the early 1920s. There is no evidence to suggest otherwise. In 1921, Mundial magazine mentioned the whitish color of the Pisco Sour at the Morris Bar. However, this is ambiguous:
a well-shaken cocktail with ice can also appear whitish. The addition of egg white is attributed to Mario Bruiget, a bartender at the Morris Bar. After the bar closed, he brought the recipe to the Hotel Maury. There are no period documents to confirm this, only later oral testimonies.
Morris, being American, had access to the cocktail trends of his country. When he opened his bar, the Boston Sour and other egg white cocktails already existed. It is reasonable to assume he experimented with adding egg white to the Pisco Sour. Bruiget, being younger and with fewer international connections, may have helped popularize the recipe by taking it to the Hotel Maury, but not necessarily invented it. In any case, there is no evidence that Bruiget had links with bartenders in the U.S. or access to international cocktail books. If he didn’t have access to that information, it’s unlikely he would have introduced egg white on his own without having seen it elsewhere first.
Another relevant factor is the U.S. Prohibition (1920–1933), which led many bartenders to migrate to Europe
and Latin America, boosting cocktail culture in those regions. It is likely that the Whiskey Sour with egg white spread
during that time. All of this supports the theory that Victor Morris, being aware of international mixology trends, was the one who introduced egg white into the Pisco Sour before Mario Bruiget.
Enjoy pisco responsibly.
By Livio Pastorino Wagner
Sommelier, Specialist, and Pisco Taster
Registration: CRDO-PISCO 2020 RCO-034-2011
@elmagozurdo
Placeres magazine No. 15 may 12, 2025
Pisco & music
Where pisco is the only protagonist!
#lapiscoteca #piscosour #winelover #pisco #pasionporlacata #bar #elpiscoesdelperu #vino #vinosdelperu #pisco #piscolover #Lima #Peru #Moquegua #Tacna #Arequipa #Ica #piscopunch #piscosour #piscotonic #capitan #chilcanodepisco
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