Pisco Punch Cocktail Recipe
Pisco with pineapple and lime — a punch that tastes far lighter than its strength.
- Category: New Era Drinks
- Glass: Coupe glass
- ABV: 16%
- Difficulty: Medium
- Prep time: ~3 min
Ingredients
- Pisco60 ml (2 oz)
- Pineapple juice45 ml (1.5 oz)
- Fresh lime juice22 ml (0.7 oz)
- Simple syrup15 ml (0.5 oz)
How to Make It
- Add all ingredients to a shaker with ice.
- Shake until well chilled.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe.
- Garnish with a pineapple wedge.
Garnish
Pineapple wedge
What it tastes like
It smells of lemon and lime peel, fruit notes come forward, there is pineapple and passion fruit in it and it drinks cool and easy.
The technique
Shaking. Anything with juice, syrup, egg white or cream gets shaken: the shaker chills the drink and adds roughly 20% water, and that water is what takes the edge off. Twelve to fifteen seconds, until the tin frosts over. Under-shaking leaves the drink harsh because it never got enough dilution.
Glass and ice
A stemmed, shallow coupe. The stem keeps your hand's warmth away from the drink, and the wide bowl carries the aroma to your nose. Served without ice.
Ingredient notes and substitutes
- Pineapple juice
- Pineapple juice. It foams on its own when shaken — that creamy head on a tiki drink comes from the pineapple, not from egg white.
- 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.
- Simple syrup
- One part sugar to one part water, stirred until it dissolves — no need to boil it. Keeps a month in the fridge. No syrup? Use the same amount of honey, loosened with a little water.
The Story
The house drink of the Bank Exchange saloon in San Francisco, whose owner took the exact recipe to his grave in 1930.
Frequently asked questions
- How is a Pisco Punch mixed?
- It is shaken and served in a coupe.
- How strong is a Pisco Punch?
- Roughly 16% ABV as served — right around a glass of wine — an aperitif or an early-evening drink.
- Can a Pisco Punch 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 Pisco Punch hard to make?
- Moderate. A shaker or mixing glass plus a strainer covers it.
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Alcoholic drink recipes are intended for those aged 18 and over. Please drink responsibly.