The story
The pisco sour is credited to Victor Vaughen Morris, an American from Utah who moved to Peru in 1903 to work for a railway company. In 1916 he opened Morris' Bar in central Lima, a hangout for wealthy Peruvians and English-speaking visitors, and ads for the bar from the early 1920s are the oldest known mentions of the drink. His first version was a simple mix of pisco, lime and sugar. Later that decade a Peruvian bartender there, Mario Bruiget, is said to have added egg white and Angostura bitters, creating the recipe still served across Peru.
Rival claims
Chile also claims the drink, citing a story about an English steward named Elliot Stubb mixing one in the port of Iquique in 1872, but historians have found no firm evidence for it; the documented trail leads to Victor Morris's bar in Lima.
Also known as Peruvian pisco sour.
On the Meridish menu
Pisco sour was the aperitif course on menu No. 3 on October 3, 2026. Its clue in the game, which hints at the place without naming it:
Pisco, lime, sugar and a frothy egg-white top. An American bartender is said to have created it in this city in the 1920s.
In Meridish, every dish is pinned to the town or city most widely credited with creating it. A guess within 25 km scores all 100 points. How scoring works.
Sources
- atlasobscura.com/articles/pisco-sour-peru-inventor
- diffordsguide.com/cocktails/recipe/1563/pisco-sour
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pisco_sour
Food history is often disputed. Think we've pinned it in the wrong place? Tell us at hello@meridish.com, ideally with a source.
