LIMA, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- Peruvian and foreign revellers may enjoy a boozing weekend as the country, especially in its capital, has kicked off celebration of the Pisco Sour Day.
Pisco Sour, the Peruvian national drink of exquisite taste, is often served free to mark the country's grape brandy-making history which has been declared a cultural heritage of Peru.
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo declared in 2003 every first Saturday of February as the Pisco Sour Day for national celebration.
The highlight of this year's Pisco Sour celebration will be Sunday's competition during an exhibition staged by bartenders and winemakers of the country in the capital city.
But festive revellers do not have to worry about hangovers from drinking Pisco Sour which is actually a cocktail made of grape brandy, lime juice, sugar and egg white.
In comparison, pisco itself is a direct distillation of spirit from fermented grape juice.
The process of piscoing started before the 16th century when Peruvian maps included Pisco as the name of the port where the grape brandy was shipped abroad.
Different varieties of grapes brew different piscos such as Pure Pisco, Fragrant Pisco, Green Pisco and Creole (Acholado) Pisco with different flavor, fragrance and taste.
Gaston Acurio, the Peruvian chef known for his role in the promotion of Peruvian cuisine in the world, describes Pisco as playing a revolutionary and important part in the Peruvian cuisine.
Pisco, a local Quechua word meaning "bird," is a port city located 250 km south of Lima. Pisco has been exported from its namesake port to Spain and other South American countries in the past four centuries.
According to the Peruvian ministry of production, annual Pisco brewing grew more than four times over the past decade from 1.64 million gallons to 6.67 million gallons in 2009.
The country's Pisco exports registered a growth of 215 percent in the last six years, with the United States being the main importer during this time.
No matter where, a connoisseur or an occasional drinker can tell whether it is true Pisco from Peru by the "rope and rose" test: shake the bottle of pisco in circles along the bottle's vertical axis; a column of bubbles will appear along the spinning whirlpool in the bottle.
The bubbles or the rope and the whirlpool opening at the top or the rose attest to the nice quality of the pisco in the bottle.
