1. Coca Tea and ther Traditional Teas
These teas supposedly help with altitude sickness, whether its just a placibo effect we're not so sure, but its worth a try, especially if you're suffering. There's a cafe that serves all of them, that travellers often choose to stop at on the way to Colca Canyon. Every morning on the Inca Trail porters will bring you a cup of Coca Tea. It tastes a bit like green tea and delivers a smaller kick than caffeine. Inca tea has a bit more flavour and is also designed to combat nausea, headaches and shortness of breath.
2. Inca Cola
A soft drink that some people will tell you it tastes like Irn Bru, others will say it tastes like cream soda, others will say bubblegum, orangina, sprit, you name it someone probably said it, but almost everyone will compare it to something different. Try it for yourself and see what you think it tastes like.
3. Pisco Sour
The debate rages on as to who originally invented the Pisco Sour, Peruvians or Chileans. Each claims it as there own, and every waiter or bartender or tour guide, in each respective country, will defend its honour. The famous cocktail consists of pisco of course, lime juice, syrup, and egg white, the somewhat controversial ingredient. You can opt to get it without the egg white, but its usually included as part of the famous drink.
Take a tour of a winery in Peru, and learn about the history of pisco, and go for a tasting of the wines and different flavours of pisco, then buy your favourite. Lots of places also do pisco sour making classes, restaurants sometimes offer them before a meal, this is how we did ours, you can also get it as a custom mocktail.
4. Argentinian Wine
Visit a ranch and winery in Argentina for a BBQ and wine tasting, horse riding through the vineyards, before you have too much wine, or stay behind and drink more wine whilst others go off and ride.
5. Simply known as 'The Special'
This unusually thick cocktail of milk, egg, algarobina and dark beer, was recommended as a must try on a rooftop terrace in Arequipa, Peru. We weren't so sure but one of our friends gave it ago.
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