So we arrived a bit early this morning at the airport, just before 7:00am. Surprisingly, we both slept well on the plane. That’s almost never happened to me. As usual (1) we were met at the airport after clearing passport control and customs and escorted to the Milaflores Park Hotel, in the suburb of Milaflores, Lima. Not surprisingly, our room was not ready (it was only about 8:30), but the our escort wrangled the reception desk into giving us a temporary room to use until our room was ready.

We had breakfast in the hotel. Breakfast is included, but we’re not sure about whether we’ll pay for this one, as we are not actually checked into our room yet. It really doesn’t matter; we needed breakfast.

I should mention the weather here in Lima. The high temperature every day is about 80F, and the sky is grey. The sky is grey pretty much every day from about now until the end of the year. Except when you can’t even see the sky because of the mist and fog. One of the nicknames for Lima is “Grey Lima”.

After a bit of settling in we went out exploring and went to Barranco, adjacent to Miraflores where we are staying. There was a beautiful park stretching along the Pacific, with great views, that we walked through. And then we went into a few art/artisan stores and saw some very interesting stuff.

But we walked to far, and were very tired by the time we got back to the room. I ran out to get a snack, while Sally rested up.

When we checked in, the receptionist told us that the hotel has a special Pisco (2) Sour demonstration in the bar every day at 4:00, so we cleaned up and went down to see what this was about.

Well, we were very surprised and had a great time. Instead of the usual “here’s how you make this, and here is a sample” we’ve gotten in winery’s, brewery’s and distilleries, our bartender, Andre, put on a two hour show that included an uncountable number of tastings and mixed drinks.

It started as any winery tour does. Here are three varieties of Pisco, here are the grapes they come from, etc. And of course, we tasted all of these.

Then Andre showed us how to make a Pisco Sour, which is similar to a Whisky Sour. But Andre was very particular about how to start:

• 3 parts pisco
• 1 part sugar syrup
• 1 part key lime juice
• 1/2 part egg white
• 2 drops of Angostura bitters.

Then there’s the construction: shake the first four ingredients for 15 seconds, add ice and shake for 10 seconds, etc. Be careful about how much foam is on the top of the drink (from the egg white). Fill the glass to the very brim. Drink.

And then we started on the variations. What happens if you use mango instead of the lime juice? How about ginger ale instead of the lime juice? We had small shots of different mixes, and also full-sized drinks. Coca, pineapple, passion fruit, ginger & honey. This went on for two hours. I lost count of the number of drinks we tried. Andre emphasized many times that we were under no obligation to finish any of them; we didn’t. I would have passed out at the bar if I did.

Adding to the fun were a gay couple from Pennsylvania, an Air Force fighter pilot and a senior HR executive, on their delayed honeymoon. The four of us bonded over travel and booze.

Then the four of us were invited to make our own (traditional recipe) Pisco Sours. It’s not really a hard drink to make; just pour in the ingredients, shake, add the ice, shake, add the bitters, drink. But of course, Andre insisted that we do each step with flair. Careful attention must be paid to the initial shaking, which creates the foam that must float in a layer of about 1/8” at the top of the drink. The glass must be filled to the very brim. A design is made with the drops of bitters; all of us used more than two.

By the time we stumbled out of the bar at 6:00, we were both buzzing. But this was a great, and unexpected, experience.

Since we were too buzzed to go out, we cancelled our dinner reservation and ordered sandwiches from room service. We have a 9:00 pickup in the morning for a city tour, so getting some sleep in is required.

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(1) As regular readers will recall, we have been traveling with end-to-end escorts on all of our major trips for several years now. It has advantages and disadvantages.

(2) Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber-colored spirit produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chili, made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit. If not made in specified regions in Peru, it is called grappa. Peruvian pisco is usually colorless, and distilled to about 40% or 42% alcohol.