Potent Peruvian potable pisco packs powerful punch

“NINETEENTH CENTURY San Franciscans became so enamored of pisco that various cocktails and watering holes were dedicated to the stuff.

I recently returned from Peru, where I was researching a number of stories, including this pisco column. Just days after arriving home, the devastating Aug. 15 earthquake hit the colonial port city of Pisco, reducing much of it to rubble.

The city is the historical selling place of pisco, the potent, distilled grape brandy or aguardiente that is the national drink of Peru and Chile. The spirit’s name is derived from the indigenous Quechua word for “bird.”"

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