Scatter Brained

C H A P T E R   7

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178
S C A T T E R B R A I N E D
06
  Rounds From Around the World
PERU
Drink:
 pisco
Made from:
 grapes
Invented:
 by 16th-century Spanish conquistadors
Tastes like:
 smooth, sugary reeds
Cocktail:
 pisco sour
Hangover Factor:
 high, particularly at Andean altitudes
Fun Facts:
 Peru and Chile have a nasty, ongoing legal dispute 
over the rights to the “pisco” appellation. Th
 e name means 
“little bird” in Quechua.
BRAZIL
Drink:
 cachaça
Made from:
 sugarcane juice
Invented:
 accidentally, by Portuguese settlers, 16th century
Tastes like:
 rum
Cocktail:
 caipirinha, with sugar, crushed lime, and ice
Hangover Factor:
 high if you guzzle, but it’s meant to be 
sipped slowly
Fun Facts:
 Th
  e settlers who inadvertently discovered it by let-
ting their sugarcane juice ferment in the hot sun thought it 
was so awful they let their slaves have it all.

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179
RURAL MEXICO
Drink:
 pulque
Made from:
 the sacred maguey plant
Invented:
 by ancient Mesoamericans
Tastes like:
 cheap Chardonnay mixed with apple cider
Cocktail:
 What are you, señor, a city boy?
Hangover Factor:
 low
Fun Facts:
 Th
  e Aztecs used it in religious ceremonies, along 
with those sacrifi ces. Like human blood, it doesn’t keep, so 
make sure to drink it fresh.
CANADA
Drink:
 ice wine
Made from:
 naturally frozen grapes
Invented:
 by Germans
Tastes like:
 honey, candied fruit
Cocktail:
 Nah.
Hangover Factor:
 moderate to low
Fun Facts:
 Ice wine is hard to produce (or so its makers claim), 
so it’s invariably overpriced.
FINLAND
Drink:
 Lappish hag’s love potion (
lapin eukon lemmenjuoma
)
Made from:
 fermented blueberries
Invented:
 as far as anyone can tell, by a mythical Finnish crone
Tastes like:
 raspberries, oddly enough. It’s red, too.
Cocktail:
 No, but there is a cocktail of the same name, usu-
ally made with blueberry syrup and vodka.