Museo del Pisco

Museo del Pisco is the place in Cusco to learn about pisco, Peru's grape brandy, and to drink it well. Despite the name it is a bar rather than a museum, at Santa Catalina Ancha 398 in the historic centre. The owners, Berner Caballero and Adam Weintraub, set out to share the history and culture of pisco with visitors, and the Cusco bar is the flagship of a small group that also has branches in Arequipa and Lima. The group has been operating since 2012 and describes Cusco as the place that launched its passion for pisco.

The most popular way to start is with a guided tasting led by one of the in-house experts. It covers four piscos representing the main styles, aromatic and non-aromatic puro, acholado and mosto verde, and explains the grapes, regions and production methods behind them. Guests are encouraged to pick a favourite and describe what they taste, which makes it an easy, sociable introduction even if you know nothing about spirits. There is also a session devoted to making the perfect pisco sour.

The cocktail list goes well beyond the classic sour. The bartenders play with flavours and textures, and drinks have included the Jora and the Patrimonio #2, made with an acholado pisco, Caña Alta Verde, a vegetal spirit from Ollantaytambo, violet, vanilla and citrus. Guides have also described around a dozen pisco cocktails using mixers such as mango, passion fruit, wasabi and coffee. The group says it uses fresh, local and organic ingredients where it can.

The bar is small and often packed, with large painted diagrams on the walls explaining pisco grapes and production, and guides have mentioned live jazz in the evenings. Arrive early if you want a table, or book a tasting in advance through the bar's experiences page; the bar can also be contacted by phone or WhatsApp.

Museo del Pisco suits couples, friends and solo travellers who want a lively but civilised evening, and it works well as a pre-dinner stop. Santa Catalina Ancha runs off the Plaza de Armas, within half a block of the square, so the bar is easy to combine with dinner at one of the restaurants in the centre, such as LIMO or Morena on the square itself, or Chicha on nearby Plaza Regocijo.