Peru’s national spirit is the fastest way to understand how this country celebrates. Here is a traveller’s guide to drinking pisco in Cusco — what it is, what to order first, and what our own bartenders at INKAGRILL pour every evening facing the Plaza de Armas. For guests of legal drinking age (18+).
What exactly is pisco?
Pisco is a grape brandy with protected designation of origin, distilled on Peru’s southern coast from aromatic and non-aromatic grapes. The two varieties you will meet most often on a menu are quebranta — earthy, structured, the backbone of a proper sour — and italia, floral and perfumed, lovely in lighter cocktails.
The pisco sour
Pisco, lime, syrup, egg white and a drop of bitters, shaken to a silky foam. It was popularised in Lima in the 1920s and remains the handshake of Peruvian hospitality. If it is your first night in Cusco, start here — and note that at altitude one is usually enough to start.
The chilcano — the local’s choice
Lighter, taller and arguably better suited to 3,400 metres: pisco lengthened with ginger ale, lime and bitters. Our house version, the Chilcano INKAGRILL, builds on quebranta pisco with fresh ginger and hierbabuena mint — bright, herbal and very easy to defend as the best altitude drink in Peru.
Beyond pisco: what an Andean bar looks like now
- High-altitude gin. Peruvian craft gins distilled with Andean botanicals — on our carta, INTIRA “gin de altura” is served with aguaymanto (golden berry) and orange.
- Hot cocktails for cold nights. Cusco evenings are chilly; locals answer with vino caliente (hot spiced wine with a measure of pisco) or a té piteado, the highland hot toddy of tea, pisco and passion fruit.
- Peruvian wine. Ica’s vineyards — among the oldest in South America — are having a moment: look for Tacama and Intipalka alongside the Argentine and Chilean bottles.
- Cusco craft beer. Brewed for altitude: our house selection, Troglobirra, runs from a quechua brown ale to the Huaranita IPA.
Something without alcohol?
The bar is just as serious about zero-proof drinks: think passion-fruit sodas with cardamom, coconut limeade, lucuma milkshakes and Inka iced tea with hibiscus and mint — plus coca-leaf tea, the classic answer to a long day at altitude.
Raise a glass on the Plaza
INKAGRILL serves the full carta of cocktails, Peruvian wines and craft beer every day until 10:00 pm at Portal de Panes 115. Pair your chilcano with something from our guide to Cusco’s essential dishes — anticuchos and pisco are old friends.
TOMAR BEBIDAS ALCOHÓLICAS EN EXCESO ES DAÑINO. Venta y consumo solo para mayores de 18 años — Ley N° 28681 (Perú).