Wah-Wah
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 19.5% ABV ∙
The Wah-Wah is a shaken pisco cocktail balanced with elderflower liqueur, an Aperol-style aperitivo, and fresh pink grapefruit juice, served up in a coupe. Silky and bracing at once, with a bittersweet snap on the finish and a citrus-oil lift from the twist cutting through the floral sweetness.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Pisco 45 mlElderflower liqueur 30 mlAperitivo 20 mlPink grapefruit juice 20 mlAngostura aromatic bitters 1 dash
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express an orange twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Pre-chill the coupe before shaking — a fine-strained drink with no ice warms fast in a room-temperature glass.
- Shake hard and fine-strain to catch any grapefruit pulp, keeping the pour clear and smooth in the glass.
- Express the orange twist directly over the drink right before serving so the citrus oils sit on the surface aroma.
History
The Wah-Wah is documented as having been created in 2007 at Range, a restaurant and bar on Valencia Street in San Francisco's Mission District. Range, which opened in 2005 and earned a Michelin star in 2007, was known for an inventive cocktail program built around unusual spirit choices like pisco, and the Wah-Wah's combination of pisco with elderflower liqueur, a bittersweet orange-red aperitivo, and grapefruit juice reflects that era's exploratory approach to modern bar menus. No individual bartender is credited by name in the record of its creation, and the drink has since circulated mainly through cocktail reference guides rather than through any further documented reinvention.
