Punches
Pisco Punch
Made with pineapple syrup · Duncan Nicol, Bank Exchange, San Francisco
- coupe
- none (served up)
- stir
Pisco Punch
- 2 oz60 ml pisco
- 1 oz30 ml pineapple syrup
- ¾ oz22 ml fresh lemon juice
- ¾ oz22 ml chilled water
- Drop a small pineapple chunk into a chilled coupe or punch cup.
- Stir the pisco, pineapple syrup, lemon juice and cold water with ice until very cold.
- Strain over the pineapple and serve.
Garnish: a small chunk of pineapple in the glass (ideally one candied in the syrup)
The syrup
In this recipe
Pineapple Syrup1 oz30 ml
Pineapple syrup is chopped fresh pineapple macerated in sugar overnight, then loosened with a little water and strained.
Our pineapple syrup has no gum arabic and is less concentrated than a rich gum syrup, so use 1 oz and less water; for the original silky texture, use ¾ oz pineapple syrup plus ¼ oz gum syrup.
As printed: pineapple-flavored gum syrup (pineapple squares soaked overnight in gum syrup)
Where it comes from
San Francisco's signature drink of the late 1800s, made famous by Duncan Nicol at the Bank Exchange saloon, who never revealed his formula. The best surviving recipe came from John Lannes, who took over the bar from Nicol at the start of Prohibition, and was published by historian William Bronson in 1973.
Source: Imbibe! by David Wondrich (2007).
Checked against: JSTOR Daily: The Lost (and Maybe Found) Classic Cocktail of San Francisco (Lannes recipe) · Kindred Cocktails: Pisco Punch (from Wondrich's Imbibe!) · Cocktail Kingdom Library: Pisco Punch (Oxford Companion excerpt)
Imbibe! (David Wondrich, updated edition)
Gear for this drink
Mixology & Craft 16-Piece Cocktail Shaker Set
OXO SteeL Angled Measuring Jigger
Best for Measuring syrup into drinks