Tales of the Cocktail 2015

Ever wonder what type of pisco in Duncan Nicol’s Pisco Punch inspired Rudyard Kipling to describe the cocktail as being “compounded of cherub’s wings and the glory of a tropical dawn, the red clouds of sunset and the fragments of lost epics by dead masters”? Well, this is your chance to try variations on this long-forgotten cocktail that ruled supreme in San Francisco during the Gold Rush era. Pisco had long had a history at the Bank Exchange Saloon as San Francisco at the time depended heavily on supplies from the ships that navigated the trade route from South America to the shores of San Francisco.

Duncan Nicol gained worldwide fame due to his precious Pisco Punch and the many accolades it collected from famous writers including Mark Twain. Such praise made Nicol quite guarded about his recipe so all that was ever learned was that the cocktail called for Pisco, pineapple, lime and sugar. Unfortunately, Prohibition closed the doors of the Bank Exchange and Nicol died shortly afterwards, taking his exact recipe to the grave.

This has led historians to hypothesize what details of the ingredients in particular led to a concoction that was said to make “a gnat fight like an elephant.” At our tasting room you’ll have a chance to taste different expressions of the Pisco Punch made with Piscos representing all 3 of Peru’s Pisco styles and showcasing various aromatic and non-aromatic grapes.