Skip to content
PeruvifyComing soon

What to order

5 Popular Drinks You Have to Try

Written by the Peruvify team in Lima, from the catalog of 205 dishes, drinks, desserts and fruits. Last updated .

Five popular drinks cover most tables in Peru: pisco sour, chicha morada, Inca Kola, chilcano de pisco and mate de coca. Two of them are cocktails. Chicha morada and Inca Kola are not alcoholic. Mate de coca is a tea people drink when they arrive in the Andes, and it is not a medical treatment.

The five

The catalog has many more drinks, including jungle fruit juices and corn beer. These are the five a first trip actually runs into.

  • Pisco Sour #127

    CommonCoast (Costa)

    Pisco, lime, sugar, egg white and bitters. Drink it on the coast, or after you have slept a night in Cusco. One is enough at altitude. Alcoholic.

    Pisco, lime, egg white and bitters.

    Ingredients: Pisco, Lime, Egg, Sugar.

  • Chicha Morada #128

    CommonAndes (Sierra)

    Purple corn, pineapple, cinnamon and lime. This is the lunch drink. It is not chicha de jora, which is fermented and alcoholic. Same first name, different glass.

    Purple corn drink with pineapple and spices.

    Ingredients: Purple corn, Pineapple, Cinnamon, Lime.

  • Inca Kola #129

    CommonCoast (Costa)

    The yellow soda that shows up next to chifa and pollo a la brasa. Very sweet. Not alcoholic. You do not have to like it to understand why the table ordered it.

    Peru's golden soda.

    Ingredients: Soda.

  • Chilcano de Pisco #130

    CommonCoast (Costa)

    Pisco, ginger ale and lime. Longer and lighter than a sour, still a real drink. A good one in Ica, where the brandy is the local crop. Alcoholic.

    Pisco with ginger ale and lime.

    Ingredients: Pisco, Ginger ale, Lime.

  • Mate de Coca #133

    CommonAndes (Sierra)

    Coca leaf tea, legal in Peru, served in Cusco hotels the hour you land. It will not fix altitude sickness. It is a warm, ordinary cup while you decide to eat soup. Not a cocktail.

    Coca leaf tea for the altitude.

    Ingredients: Coca leaf.

Alcohol, at a glance

Which of the five contain alcohol.
DrinkAlcoholWhen people order it
Pisco sourYesAfter lunch on the coast, or a settled night in the Andes
Chicha moradaNoWith the menú, any city
Inca KolaNoWith chifa or chicken
Chilcano de piscoYesWhen you want pisco and you do not want a sour
Mate de cocaNoThe first afternoon in Cusco

If you want a sixth

Chicha de jora is the fermented corn beer. It is cloudy, mild, and alcoholic, and it shows up in Andean picanterías more than in a Lima cocktail bar. Emoliente is the hot herbal drink sold on the street in the morning. Masato and aguaje belong to the Amazon, on the Iquitos page.

In Ica, drink the pisco nearer to where it is distilled, and try a teja with it if you want sugar rather than another cocktail. That stop is its own guide: what to eat in Ica.

Questions

Is chicha morada alcoholic?

No. Chicha morada is a soft drink of purple corn and fruit. Chicha de jora is the fermented corn beer, and that one does contain alcohol. Order by the full name.

What is mate de coca?

A tea made from coca leaves. It is legal in Peru and easy to find in Cusco. Travelers drink it on arrival. It is not medicine, and it is not the same plant preparation that drug laws are about outside the country. Do not take leaves home.

Is Inca Kola just another cola?

No. It is a sweet yellow soda, and in a lot of meals it is the default bubble, especially next to Chinese-Peruvian food. Taste it once. You are allowed to switch back to water.

Where should I drink a pisco sour?

Anywhere the pisco is decent, which includes Lima. Ica is the valley most short trips pass when they want the brandy itself. Skip the first-night sour in Cusco if the altitude is already loud.

Keep reading