Cuzco

I want to introduce you to another Latin American brandy that is a godsend to happy cocktailers, namely pisco. It's based on grape juice and produced in Peru and Chile. Compared with Brazilian cachaça, which is based on sugarcane juice, pisco is more refined and sophisticated with notes of fermenting grapes and apples. The best brands can be enjoyed neat as digestifs.

In this pearl of a cocktail the taste is composed like a melody with the citrus fruit and  Aperol creating a harmony that lets the lead singer show what he or she is worth.

4 cl pisco

1.5 cl Aperol

1.5 cl simple syrup

1 cl grapefruit juice

1 cl lemon juice

Shake the ingredients in a shaker with ice. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Note: There is an intense rivalry between Peru and Chile as to which of the two countries is the original home of pisco. However, there are superb brands on both sides of the border. Among them are Ocucaje from Peru and El Gobernador from Chile.

And the name of this drink? Cuzco is a city in the south of Peru. It was the capital of the Inca Empire.