El Capitán

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (25 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
2 oz BarSol Mosto Verde Italia Pisco
1 oz Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
1 dash Angostura Aromatic Bitters
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of skewered Fragata Green Olives.
  3. STIR all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. Garnish with skewered olives.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 8/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 8/10

Review:

A popular Peruvian riff on a Sweet Manhattan. A tad drier than a bourbon-based Manhattan.

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History:

The combination of vermouth and pisco probably dates back to soon after vermouth arrived in Peru during the 1850s-60s with Italian immigrants. Pisco being the dominant spirit, it was a natural progression to mix this with the newly available fortified wine. However, the ingredients would have simply been combined without ice.

The origin of El Capitán is unknown, but it is said to date from the 1920s when it was apparently popular with army captains in the city of Puno in southeastern Peru.

Nutrition:

One serving of El Capitán contains 139 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.7 standard drinks
  • 26.17% alc./vol. (26.17° proof)
  • 23.6 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
22nd January 2024 at 03:55
Didn't care for this much, cold after a long stir. Thought perhaps the acholado flavors were clashing with the vermouth. Let it sit until near room temperature. Much improved. So I poured 15ml pisco room temp., 7.5 sweet vermouth (fridge) and a drop angostura and it was an excellent sipper. Interesting how much temperature can change the flavour profile! I've never been a fan of the Manhattan (there's so many excellent rifs on Difford's Guide ((Thank-s Simon))
Simon Difford’s Avatar Simon Difford
22nd January 2024 at 09:29
There's a Manhattan for you out there. Just a question of discovering which one it is. You have reminded me that I need to work on some batched and bottled recipes. Thanks for your support.
Calvin Grant’s Avatar Calvin Grant
22nd January 2024 at 04:05
Oops I bumped SUBMIT ...Thank's Simon, but to complete a thought... maybe I should try a manhattan neat. And the El Capitan is really good straight out of the bottles without any dilution. Plus bitters.