Singani Sour

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I love Pisco Sours but, oddly enough, didn't have any Pisco in the Lair. So I reached instead for my bottle of Singani 63 to bring a Bolivian flair to this classic cocktail. Singani is the national liquor of Bolivia I'm told, and it works very well in this drink.  You can find more about Singani 63 here; it's an interesting story.

I love the velvety texture and mouthfeel egg whites bring to a cocktail, but I kind of hate separating eggs. It always leaves me with a yolk I'm not going to use and can take me a couple of eggs to get right (because I can be kind of a klutz when it comes to that.) I picked up a small carton of pasteurized egg whites at the local grocery and I've been playing with those. They're working pretty well, but I'm not getting as much egg foam as perhaps I'd like. This could be due to not using fresh-fresh egg whites or just to me not shaking the drink for long enough. It obviously calls for more experimentation, which I'll gleefully do; I have a lot of egg whites left in that carton.

For those who'd care to try this at home:

  • 3 oz. Singani 63 (or Pisco)
  • 1 oz. fresh Lime Juice
  • 3/4 oz Simple Syrup
  • 1 fresh egg white 
  • 6 - 8 drops of Amargo bitters (or Angostura if you don't have the Amargo)
  1. Combine the ingredients in a shaker without ice and shake the crap out of it for a minute or two. Seriously shake weight action here. Be careful! As the egg white emulsifies, the volume of the liquid expands and can force the shaker open, especially if you're using a Boston shaker. Also, without the ice in there, you don't get as firm of a seal (the ice chills and contracts the metal shaker, which helps make a tight seal.) I usually wrap a dish towel around the shaker at this stage to prevent any spills.
  2. Add ice and shake to chill, about 20 - 30 seconds
  3. Use a Hawthorne strainer and a fine-mesh strainer to strain the drink into a martini glass or cocktail coupe.
  4. Drop the bitters in a nice pattern on the top of the foam. Use a toothpick to make pretty designs with it if you'd like.
  5. Enjoy!

This recipe would also be interesting with other types of brandies, though you'll have to experiment to get the right amount of sour and sweet to balance the spirit. I'm looking forward to doing that... after I revisit the Word Up.

I still need to work on my bitter art, but it's getting better.

Lovely Stuff, this.