Coctel de Algarrobina is Peru’s Comforting Milk Punch

In Lima, every special occasion—whether it’s a birthday, anniversary, graduation, Christmas, New Year’s or Peruvian Independence day—calls for pisco cocktails. Some of these celebratory drinks, like the Pisco Sour, are well-known around the world. But others, like the Coctel de Algarrobina—an eggnog-like drink spiked with aguardiente—mostly remain a local tradition. I, however, think they deserve recognition.

The Coctel de Algarrobina originated in Piura, a city 600 miles north of Lima. There, in the late 17th century, Jesuits introduced a concoction of wine, egg and sugar. In time, cañazo (rum), then pisco, replaced the wine. Locals added algarrobina, a molasses-like medicinal syrup derived from the carob tree, which has notes of vanilla, chocolate, hazelnuts and honey. Eventually, creole cooks incorporated evaporated milk, and that version caught on across the country.

An early recipe for the cocktail from the 1958 cookbook El Cocinero Peruano calls for evaporated milk, algarrobina, pisco and crushed ice, all blended with the optional addition of simple syrup or egg whites for frothiness. Later, in 1994, the cookbook El Libro de Oro de Mamá: Dulces y Bebidas Peruanas, replaced ice with cold water, added an egg and suggested serving the drink “in small cups as an aperitivo, dusting with cinnamon powder.”

Gabriela Sanchez Palacios, who lived in Lima from 1958 to 1978, fondly recalls the drink at family reunions. “My father used an electric blender to make the cocktail with ice, and he’d serve it in small, fancy crystal glasses arranged in trays.” Algarrobina is the true star of the festive drink. “It was rich, with a chocolaty flavor, like an embrace that warmed you up,” she remembers.

Despite its prevalence in Peruvian homes, the Coctel de Algarrobina (which is sometimes referred to simply as “Algarrobina”) hasn’t historically been as popular on bar menus. Today, however, Lima’s bartenders are recrafting the cocktail for a modern drinker.

At Bar Capitán Meléndez, owner and barman Roberto Meléndez makes the drink with an acholado (blended) pisco. For his version, Meléndez first decorates a chilled glass with dark streaks of algarrobina before pouring the drink into it. It’s an added flair that highlights the local sweetener. “The pisco is from the south and the algarrobina is from the north,” he says;  the distinct regions unite in the glass.

Elsewhere, at the restaurant Astrid y Gastón, the cocktail has been on the menu since opening 30 years ago. Though the midcentury versions were small aperitifs, bartenders today consider the silky drink more satisfying as a dessert cocktail. “It’s a drink of celebration, a gift at the end of a great meal,” says head bartender Carlos Melgarejo, who adds cacao liqueur to his version. His choice of pisco, which is made with nonaromatic quebranta grapes, balances the weight of the algarrobina and cacao, cutting through the sweetness. In other renditions, aged Peruvian brandy replaces the pisco, yielding a more robust drink with notes of vanilla and oak. “Each ingredient has a mission: Pisco gives strength, cacao provides depth and algarrobina bestows the soul,” he explains. 

These days, like many creamy cocktails in the 21st century, the Coctel de Algarrobina has been given the clarified milk punch treatment. Enrique Hermoza, head bartender at Museo del Pisco, transformed the drink this way in 2023. “We want the cocktail to be contemporary, palatable, one that invites you to drink it again,” he says.

To clarify the punch, Hermoza filters a large batch through a fine cheesecloth. He also adds mistela (a fortified wine made from pisco grape must), which imparts a natural sweetness and aromatics. Poured over a large cube of ice, the clarified milk punch is paired with a cinnamon cookie in lieu of the powdered garnish. “The goal was to create a more balanced, elegant, and easy to drink [cocktail],” says Hermoza, “without losing its historical identity.”