pisco punch variation

1 1/2 oz Macchu Pisco
1/2 oz Pineapple Juice
1/2 oz Lime Juice
1/2 oz Simple Syrup
1 Egg White

Shake without ice and then with ice. Strain into a rocks glass and float a line of Regan's Orange Bitters on top of foam.

For my last drink at Ben Sandrof's Sunday Salon, I mentioned to Ben that I was considering the Pisco Punch on his menu unless there was an off-the-menu egg or egg white drink that he wanted to make. As a compromise, he proposed the idea of making a Pisco Punch with egg white akin to the traditional Pisco Sour. Ben's Pisco Punch was similar to the ones that I have made and had before save for the citrus as he chose lime. The identity of the proper citrus in the Pisco Sour (or Pisco Punch) is a rather common debate. What is confusing is that the lemon grown in Peru, the limón verde, has a flavor rather similar to key limes. Without the indigenous citrus readily available in this country, there may be no single right answer.
The Pisco Punch variation started with a burst of orange bitters on the nose with pineapple aromas seeping through the luxurious egg white foam. The drink was the essence of a standard Pisco Punch with an added smoothness and mutedness from the egg white. The sip was sweet lime on the front with pineapple notes on the swallow. Some Pisco Punch recipes specify gomme syrup or more specifically pineapple gum syrup such as the way Duncan Nicol was believed to have made it. Indeed, the egg white in this recipe behaved very similarly to how gum Arabic does in the classic recipe in terms of mouthfeel and smoothing over rough notes.