Chilcano Cocktail Recipe
Pisco with ginger ale, lime and bitters — the everyday Peruvian drink that the Pisco Sour overshadows abroad.
- Category: Popular
- Glass: Highball glass
- ABV: 11%
- Difficulty: Easy
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Pisco60 ml (2 oz)
- Ginger ale120 ml (4.1 oz)
- Fresh lime juice15 ml (0.5 oz)
- Angostura bitters2 dash
How to Make It
- Fill a highball glass with ice.
- Add the pisco, lime juice and bitters.
- Top with ginger ale and stir once.
- Garnish with a lime wheel.
Garnish
Lime wheel
What it tastes like
It smells of lemon and lime peel, it is carbonated and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Built in the glass. Ice goes into the serving glass, the ingredients go on top, and you stir once if at all. Anything carbonated goes in LAST and never gets stirred; every turn of the spoon costs you bubbles. Fill the glass to the rim with ice: less ice melts faster, not slower.
Glass and ice
A tall, narrow highball. The narrowness does real work — less surface area means the carbonation lasts longer and the ice melts more slowly.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Fresh lime juice
- Freshly squeezed lime. Bottled lime tastes cooked and flat; one lime gives about 30 ml. If you have none, half lemon and half grapefruit juice comes closest.
- Angostura bitters
- The salt of the cocktail world. Measured in dashes, not millilitres: a few of them cut the sweetness and add spice. One bottle lasts years.
The Story
Peru holds a Semana del Chilcano every January, which tells you which of the two drinks locals actually order.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Chilcano mixed?
- It is built in the glass and served in a highball glass.
- How strong is a Chilcano?
- Roughly 11% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Chilcano be made without alcohol?
- Simply leaving the spirit out does not work — the body and the bitterness go with it. The 86 alcohol-free recipes in the catalogue are built to hit that balance from the start.
- Is a Chilcano hard to make?
- Easy. No bar kit required — a measure, ice and a jar will do.
759 recipes in your pocket
Cocktails and mocktails from 55 countries — ingredients, steps and the story behind each drink. Works offline too.
Similar recipes
Collections
Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.