Every movement needs a historian, someone who can frame events with the trajectory of inevitability. For Barbary Coast cocktail cultists, that historian is Lima-born Guillermo Toro-Lira. Like some early Christian saint, Toro-Lira quit his tech job to devote his life to study ― of the Peruvian brandy pisco, the heart of San Francisco indigenous guzzler Pisco Punch. Wings of Cherubs (BookSurge, $19.95), Toro-Lira's first book, documented his search for Pisco Punch lore. Now Toro-Lira has published History of Pisco in San Francisco (CreateSpace, $24.99), which tracks pisco's historical record in California. Toro-Lira officially launches the book next week at Pisco Latin Lounge with an A/V presentation ― just like high school, only you'll have a pisco buzz. The event is free, though there's a $20 special that includes a copy of Toro-Lira's book and a drink made with Barsol Pisco. The whiff of extreme cocktail geekery? Absolutely gratis.
History of Pisco in San Francisco Book Signing and Seminar
When: Mon., Dec. 13, 6-9 p.m.
Where: Pisco Latin Lounge, 1817 Market (at Octavia)
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