BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta is an award-winning pisco from Peru, so take a sip and drink in Peruvian tradition, culture, and history. Pisco, the oldest brandy produced in the Americas, became popular in the United States during the California Gold Rush days from 1849, and continued until a little thing called Prohibition came along. With the growing trend in all things Latin, pisco proves its versatility beyond the Pisco Punch and the Pisco Sour.

The BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta Story - The Journey from Quebranta Grapes to Award-Winning Pisco 

Carlos Ferreyros (an agricultural entrepreneur in Peru) and Diego Loret de Mola (a USA business entrepreneur) founded BarSol Pisco in 2002. When I spoke with Diego in late March 2013, he explained that he was born in Peru, and when he left the minerals industry, he wanted to do something to keep his ties there, as there is rich history, and tradition. His friend, Carlos Ferreyros asked him to go south with him to the Ica Valley where his intention was to venture into agriculture. After 450 years of making pisco in Peru, there was a military coup in 1968 that lasted until 1980, which closed agriculture, and the grapes and the vineyards disappeared. By 2000, the country was stable, however it was very difficult to purchase land from the co-ops. Diego explained that they went to the dessert, which was very fertile, and they could irrigate the land.

Off they went two young guys without any pisco background but with passion and determination. They visited small artisanal pisco makers, who were making small batches for their families, and they tried some really, nice piscos. It was a renaissance if you will, of pisco. During the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, Diego said that pisco was not very good; there were not enough grapes. Growing up during that time, most people wanted to drink scotch, as there was always a hangover associated with drinking pisco. After tasting how good pisco could be, when Carlos asked Diego what he thought of them making pisco, he replied, agriculture is an industry of patience, however if Carlos was willing, then so was he.

They wanted to start something that they could see grow so they bought a distillery, and started growing their own grapes. They started by planting Quebranta, Italia, and Torontel grapes. Quebranta has great characteristics, and Italia and Torontel are aromatic and flavorful and work well together, and worked with grape producers to supply grapes until their own grapes reached a consistent basis.

They learned the process for harvesting grapes, which varies greatly between table grapes and grapes for making pisco. Harvest time for table grapes is the end of November until December, harvest time for wine grapes is December, January, and February, and harvest time for pisco grapes is at the end of February through March, which allows the grapes more exposure to sun and increases their sugar content. They also prune the grapes later, when the sun is warmer, as summer in Peru begins in January and by March, the weather is hot.

BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta: 40% alcohol; is a clear un-aged artisanal brandy made in Peru, distilled and bottled in one of the oldest distilleries in the Ica Valley. It is produced from the wine resulting from the fermentation of 100% Quebranta grapes, a non-aromatic grape that is a mutation of the grape Prieta or Negra that the Spaniards brought to Peru, grown in the Ica Valley.

BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta adheres to the classic recipe for making pisco and uses copper alembic pot stills method, crafting the pisco in small batches to bottle proof without the addition of water or any other ingredients, with only one distillation. The result is one of excellence marked by purity, clarity, and exceptional taste.

Tasting Notes: Fresh, floral notes of honeysuckle and lavender, fruit, fresh grape must, as well as vanilla on the nose. On the palate, the taste is clean, with honey, floral, and herbaceous notes, with a slightly spicy, black pepper, delectable lingering finish.

Since 2002 when they founded the company, Diego and Carlos have discovered great stories about the history of the grapes and the tradition, the complexity of the spirit, which has made them fall in love with pisco and the experience. Asked about his experience of making pisco, Diego replied, "I do not sell pisco, I sell Peru in a glass - expressions of 450 years of history and tradition."

BarSol Pisco now makes seven delicious varieties of pisco:

To show the versatility of BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta, "Luxury Experience was in the kitchen and behind the bar®" creating culinary and cocktail recipes to tempt your palate. All culinary recipes created by Luxury Experience's Chef Debra C. Argen. All cocktail recipes created by Luxury Experience Mixologists Debra C. Argen and Edward F. Nesta.

Luxury Experience's BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta
Cocktail and Culinary Menu

The Cocktail Menu

Luxury Experience - Pisco Sour
Luxury Experience - El Padrino
Luxury Experience - La Madrina
Luxury Experience - Loco Llama
Luxury Experience - ¡Hola!

The Culinary Menu

Luxury Experience - Artichoke Soup with
BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta and Crispy Artichokes
Luxury Experience - BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta
Seafood Cocktail
Luxury Experience - Date, Orange, Lemon, Jalapeno, Almond,
Mint Chutney
Luxury Experience - Pisco Sour Sorbet

The History of Pisco Cocktails:

Duncan Nicol created the potent cocktail, Pisco Punch, for the Bank Exchange & Billiard Saloon, in the late 1880s. This was the first cocktail recipe to use pisco, and was made with pisco, pineapple juice, lime juice, sugar, gum Arabic, and distilled water.

The Pisco Sour dates to somewhere around 1916, although the actual date varies to as early as 1915, and as late as 1920, when bartender Victor Vaughn Morris, an American ex-pat living in Lima, Peru created the recipe for his bar. This tasty cocktail recipe reached the United States in the 1930s and became immensely popular throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

Luxury Experience would like to introduce you to their version of the Pisco Sour using BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta, which is the best type of pisco to make  a Pisco Sour, as well as introduce you to other great cocktail and culinary recipes to tempt your palate and whet your appetite!

Luxury Experience - Pisco Sour
Yield:               1 Cocktail
Glass Used:       Martini Glass or Champagne Glass

Ingredients:

Method: Fill a martini glass or champagne glass with water and ice to chill. Add ingredients to a metal shaker with 4 ice cubes, and shake hard until metal shaker is frosty. Drain martini glass, strain cocktail into glass, and celebrate Peruvian tradition.

The inspiration behind Luxury Experience - El Padrino (The Godfather) was to combine BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta with Cognac to keep the alcohol in the brandy family, and added papaya nectar to round out and balance the cocktail. Luxury Experience - El Padrino is smooth and tasty without being overly sweet.

Luxury Experience - El Padrino (The Godfather)
Yield:                1 Cocktail
Glass Used:       Rocks Glass

Ingredients:

Method: Fill a rocks glass with ice. Add all ingredients, stir, and enjoy.

Luxury Experience - La Madrina (The Godmother) takes its nod from Luxury Experience - El Padrino (The Godfather) and combines BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta with Grand Marnier and papaya nectar. Luxury Experience - La Madrina is smooth, tasty, lighter, and is a slightly sweeter cocktail than El Padrino.

Luxury Experience - La Madrina (The Godmother)
Yield:               1 Cocktail
Glass Used:       Rocks Glass

Ingredients:

Method: Fill a rocks glass with ice. Add all ingredients, stir, and enjoy.

Luxury Experience - Loco Llama  combines the traditional Peruvian beverage, chichi morada (made with water, sugar cane, purple maize extract, pineapple, lemon, cinnamon, and cloves), with kiwi, lime juice, honey water, and BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta. Luxury Experience - Loco Llama has layers of luscious flavors to create a delectable cocktail.

Luxury Experience - Loco Llama
Yield:                1 Cocktail
Glass Used:       Martini Glass

Ingredients:

Method: Chill a martini glass and set aside. In a blender, add the kiwi, Chichi Limeña, lime juice, and honey water. Puree until smooth. Pour the mixture into a metal shaker, add BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta, and four ice cubes. Shake hard until metal shaker is frosty. Strain cocktail into the chilled martini glass. Garnish with a wedge of kiwi.

Luxury Experience - ¡Hola! is a world ambassador that combines Peruvian BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta with Mexican Xtabentun and acerola juice from Brazil. Freshly squeezed lime juice brings balance to this delicious cocktail.

Luxury Experience - ¡Hola! 
Yield:               1 Cocktail
Glass Used:       Rocks Glass

Ingredients:

Method: Add ice to a mixing glass and all ingredients with exception of the lime wheel. Shake briefly and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish with the lime wheel.

The Culinary Menu

Luxury Experience - Artichoke Soup with 
        BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta and Crispy Artichoke Hearts
Luxury Experience - BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta 
        Seafood Cocktail
Luxury Experience - Date, Orange, Lemon, Jalapeno, Almond, 
        Mint Chutney
Luxury Experience - Pisco Sour Sorbet

Luxury Experience - Artichoke Soup with BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta and Crispy Artichoke Hearts
8 servings (4 ounces each)

Soup Ingredients:

Method: Melt butter in a saucepan; add shallots, cover, and sauté until shallots are translucent (about 3 minutes). Add the artichoke hearts and seasonings, stir to coat, and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the chicken stock, bring to a boil, cover, lower heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Puree in small batches in a blender until smooth.

Return soup to the saucepan, bring to a boil, cover, and then simmer for approximately 30 minutes to reduce soup from 6 cups to 4 cups to thicken soup and intensify flavors. Stir in the BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta. Remove from heat.

Garnish Ingredients:

Method: Heat vegetable oil in a small saucepan. Add the artichoke hearts, flour, and seasonings to a plastic bag. Shake the bag to thoroughly coat the artichoke hearts. Deep fry until golden. Drain on paper towels.

Presentation: Ladle soup into bowls set onto larger plates. Add a sprig of fresh dill to each bowl of soup, and garnish each plate with two fried artichoke hearts.

Luxury Experience - BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta Seafood Cocktail
Servings: 4

Ingredients:

Method: Whip heavy cream with 1-tablespoon fresh dill and sea salt until stiff. Fold in mayonnaise and lime juice. Heat 1-ounce of BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta in a small bowl in the microwave. Add the agar, stir until smooth. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth. Set aside and let cool a few minutes. Add to the whipped cream mixture.

Place the potatoes, corn, avocado, and crab meat in separate bowls. Divide the whipped cream mixture evenly between the four ingredients.

Presentation: This recipe looks great layered in a martini glass or served molded on a bed of arugula on a plate.

To layer, add a small amount of arugula to the bottom of the martini glass. Spoon a layer of potatoes onto the arugula, followed by a layer of avocado, a layer of corn, and finish with a layer of crabmeat. Chill for 30 minutes. Sprinkle minced dill over the cocktail. Garnish with two shrimp and a sprig of dill. Serve with lime wedges if desired.

To mold, place a sheet of plastic wrap inside a ring-mold (or the used crabmeat can). Lightly spray the plastic with vegetable oil. Spoon a layer of potatoes into the ring mold, followed by a layer of avocado, a layer of corn, and finish with a layer of crabmeat. Cover with plastic, and carefully remove the plastic wrapped bundle from the ring mold or crabmeat can and place on a tray. Repeat with the remaining three portions. Chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator. To serve, scatter a small amount of arugula on four plates. Carefully peel the top layer of plastic from the bundles, flip over and gently place in the center of the arugula, remove the rest of the plastic wrap. Sprinkle with minced dill, and garnish with two shrimp and a sprig of dill. Serve with lime wedges if desired.

Luxury Experience - Date, Orange, Lemon, Jalapeno, Almond, Mint Chutney

Ingredients:

Method: Add all ingredients to a saucepan, bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until reduced to 1 cup. Serve as an accompaniment to a cheese course, as a spread for toasted baguettes, or with pork recipes. 

Luxury Experience - Pisco Sour Sorbet is a lovely palate cleanser to serve between courses or is perfect as a dessert served with fresh fruit salad.

Luxury Experience - Pisco Sour Sorbet

Ingredients:

Method: In a blender, add the lime zest and sugar and process until the zest is fine and incorporated into the sugar (approximately 2 minutes).

Ingredients:

Add 12 ounces (1.5 cups) of water to the lime and sugar mixture in the blender and liquefy for another 2 minutes. Pour mixture into a saucepan, add 1 cup of sugar, and let simmer for 3 minutes or until sugar is completely dissolved. Add 2 ounces (1/4 cup) of freshly squeezed lime juice and 18 ounces (2¼ cups) of water to the mixture and let cool.

Ingredients:

Method: Add the BarSol Pisco Primero Quebranta, bitters, and egg white to the cool lime mixture. Whip the mixture until the egg white is foamy. Pour into a plastic airtight container and freeze for several hours. When the mixture is partially frozen, remove from the container, and blend in food process or blender until light and fluffy. Return to the plastic container and freeze overnight.

Presentation: Traditional Pisco Sours have a dash of Angostura Bitters, so add a tiny dash of Angostura Bitters to individual portions of the BarSol Pisco Sour Sorbet.

Diego Loret de Mola, Founder
BarSol USA, LLC
65 High Ridge Road, Suite 397
Stamford, Connecticut 06905
United States
Telephone: +1-203-716-1736
Email:         This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Website:    www.BarSolPisco.com
Facebook:  www.Facebook.com/BarSolPisco

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© April 2013. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com All rights reserved.