When we were in Peru, I swear I had a pisco sour (or two) almost every night, they were so good.

We had them a couple of ways - shaken with ice to chill but no ice in the glass itself, and then ones with a very slightly slushy texture, so obviously blended with a small amount of ice.

We didn't get sick, but the restaurants we ate at were not typically locals only type of places - I'm assuming they had a water purification type system to make their ice or perhaps they purchased ice made with purified water.

Our group went to a bar one night, and the next day all the women were sick - some diarrhea, some nausea. All the women had been drinking pisco sours, and the guys drank beer... And yes, there was ice in the glass. It's only after my first (and only) pisco sour that it dawned on me... and then something else dawned on me the next day! Be careful, if your body is prone to catching everything like mine.

Unless it's a nice hotel or up market restaurant a Pisco Sour may not be the best idea. Particularly in a place like Aguas Calientes that has a reputation for poor hygiene.

I agree with mlgb comments re Aguas Calientes and its reputation for poor food hygeine. I ignored the warnings and suffered badly as a result on the particularly on the day we were visiting MP.

As fars as Pisco Sours are concerned, we drank many during over 6 weeks in Peru and had no bad experiences 9and I do have a stomach that seems more sensitive than many to this sort of thing.

Apply common sense and but I don't agree with the assumptions that just because the establishment is upmarket/high end/expensive/5* etc., that the hygeine standards are automatically any better. That said, it is possible to be too careful and miss out on the culinary experiences of Peru which are many and varied, of which the Pisco sour is a great example.

I didn't appreciate that Diamox altered the taste of beer. Perhaps if you just tried drinking more beer it would dilute the effect???

mdtravelhealth.com Peru correct health info Ice(Hielo) has diarrhea pathogens just like water why Travel MDs suggest no ice.The hot chicken soup in Nasca go me lasy I found the feet with feces between the toes at the bottom of the bowl had to take my antibiotics immodium was better in 24 hours. So bring a good medical kit. Take plenty of time to adjust to altitude or
take acetazolamide as a preventive.No fun to be sick and rarely
folks in good health die that do not respect the altitude.

Sealed bottle mineral water like Perrier or San Pelligino or one of the local brands sealed is great for me. Watch out for the native "ChiCha" beer made with Inka Spit avoid.

My comment about high end/upmarket applies only to the consumption of the Pisco Sour, where I would ask about the source of water for the ice and hope that they replied honorably.

As for general food consumption I was happy to eat at local places and even a few ferias where the flavors surpass those in the toned down tourist restaurants. Avoid the lettuce salads or other unpeeled produce and using caution at buffets, eg the leftover rice dishes.

I think the riskiest meal of the day is a hotel dinner!

In Arequipa I ate queso helado (cheese ice cream) and believe I got sick from that. I don't know why I didn't think twice before eating it because ice and cheese are two products I believe one needs to be careful about. We also went on overnight tour to Colca Canyon with about 14 people and half of us had gotten sick form one thing or another in Arequipa. No one specifically mentioned Pisco sours which i did drink and never got sick from. I will say I tend to try and spoon out ice cubes, but some ice remains.

There is no cheese in queso helado. Whether it made you sick probably had to do with where you ate it, how it was stored, how clean the dishes were, etc, Charito is a famous maker, he at Mistura and some of the other gastronomy fairs in Lima. There is a store near the plaza in Yanahuara where a lot of tours go to look at the view.

I was in Arequipa 4 nights and Colca 2 nights and didn't get sick there despite eating in the Arequipa market and at local restaurants Some of the cheap and not so cheap tourist restaurants were pretty bad, though, like El Turko.

oops, my mistake -- it was the milk (not cheese) that I thought could had caused my stomach upset. Yes, of course, no way to know what exactly caused it, I had it as dessert in a restaurant.

I made the mistake of first ordering queso helado at El Turko. After that I restricted ice cream purchases to ice cream stores where I could check them out for freshness before purchase, and also have a free sample. Ice cream in Peru is fantastic and if you stick with a name brand producer there isn't much risk. The 4-D store at the airport and Laritza in Larcomar are two places to have a try, at the high end. But even D'Onofrio is good if you get it at a parlor or buy in a grocery store. In Iquitos there is Giornata with flavors like camucamu and copoazu. I can't count the number of 'dinners' I had that were ice cream!

Queso Helado seller in Yanahuara, Arequipa
www.picasaweb.google.com/kiwifann/AllFoodAndMarketsPeruAndBolivia2011#5689833285007593154

Iquitos ice cream flavors
www.picasaweb.google.com/kiwifann/IquitosBelenMarketPeru#5476117909369765650

Thanks everyone. Appreciate not the confirmation on ice, but also the ChiCha beer, cautions on ice cream, etc.

Oops - I meant I appreciate not ONLY the confirmation on ice...

Chicha does not have spit in it. It is made with fermented corn. It is a myth that spit is used to start the fermentation. There is both chicha (fermentes) and chicha morada (purple) which is unfermented. Some jungle tribes use spit to start fermentation but you wouldn´t be tempted by those drinks!

Not really a myth, just the old way of making it.

There is also api morad0 which you can sometimes find for breakfast around Arequipa, Cusco and Puno.

The main thing about the chicha morada is that hopefully the water has been boiled for long enough and properly stored afterwards. It's probably best to have it only in restaurants and not from a bucket in a street market!

If you want to try the corn chicha, the lady at Descanso Bar near Maras offers a small bit for tourists for a donation. The tour guides will know where it is safe to drink it.

Enyoy Pisco sour in safe places as every where in the world with food. My personal suggestion is to visit "Restaurante Manifiesto"... take a look here: http://www.manifiesto.pe/en/home... and ask for the TACNA SOUR... the best & only in town. It takes "damasco" an apricot type... a tipicall fruit from the southern part of Peru. It´s a wonderful cocktail.

Note that pisco sour has egg whites in them, and in Peru they usually do not refrigerate their eggs. However, the alcohol in the pisco and the lime usually takes care of the usual suspects.

Would be more worried about the raw egg that is mixed into the drink! Ice is okay, in a descent hotel!

I have read this thread with great interest . I would love to tour Peru
On my own ( senior woman) but it seems the chances of getting
sick are very high . I am scared to be on my own and sick as a dog.
Am I over reacting ?
Should I take a tour so I'm not alone?

Also I don't normally drink but feel I should at least try a Pisco Sour ...
When in Rome...
Do they really taste that good? Do they taste like booze or are they
Fruity? Do they really make you sick ?

kodi - I wouldn't say the chances of getting sick in Peru are especially high. I read with interest your great report on your Chile/Argentina trip and if you can do that trip then Peru should not present too many problems! We were in Peru for two months and, apart from a few problems initially acclimatising to the altitude, I was fine and I do tend to have a delicate stomach (unlike my wife who seems to eat anything without any ill effects at all!). Trip/health insurance is essential (being English, few people here would travel without it but it seems it is a LOT cheaper here than in the USA)

There are many tours that cover the "gringo trail" etc. some group some individual. http://www.intrepidtravel.com/search/trips are highly regarded for groups of all ages and David Choque seems to get good reviews from members here. Pisco Sours are a fruity drink I would say similar to a Margharita.

You do however need to be aware of security issues in certain parts, notably Cusco and Lima where the incidence of petty theft, pickpockets etc is higher than Argentina and Chile as peru is a developing country and a large proportion of the population lives in poverty.