Aiding earthquake victims, a trip to Mahlerfest, and a local music prodigy
By Donna Shor
Pisco sour entrepreneurs Lizzie (left) and Melanie Asher’s business is definitely sweet. (Photo by Tomas Muscionico)
PASS THE PISCO
Four hundred guests thronged the Hotel Monaco’s Poste Brasserie patio to celebrate the 188th anniversary of Peruvian independence, benefit earthquake victims in that country, and knock back “Macchu Pisco” pisco sours.
Relief funds are sorely needed. Last December, I visited the town of Pisco – where the diamond-white liquor is made – just days before death and destruction came to Pisco/Ica at the quake’s epicenter.
The “Macchu Pisco” brand – with an extra “c” added for luck – was begun by Bethesda’s Melanie Asher, who spent her childhood in Peru. Melanie graduated from the Harvard Business School, where her required b-school plan generated the company (“There was a lack of pisco in America!
”). Her sister Lizzie, a Harvard lawyer, looks after the legal tasks and marketing. (Lizzie’s wedding, in Antigua last year, was so spectacular that it appeared in Elle magazine’s December issue.)
The co-sponsors were the Embassy of Peru, Evelyn Brooks Designs, and Macchu Pisco to benefit Coprodeli, a charity that for 20 years has helped the poor in Peru, and now is aiding earthquake victims.
