The legacy of the 19th century Austro-German settlers is still strong in many aspects of Oxapampino culture, but the strongest aspect of the culture is the gastronomy. In fact, Dorcher beer has even made it all the way from Pozuzo to Lima. My favorite kind was without a doubt the dunkel, a dark Greman beer that tastes of chocolate and coffee. However, the most interesting was the coca beer, made using coca leaves. Coca leaves are typically used by Andean populations to brew a tea that helps combat the effects of high altitude, but apparently they also can be brewed for beers.
Pozuzo is a small town, with a population of under 2,000, yet it has seen an increasing amount of attention from tourists, like much of this region. When I had seated myself in the Dorcher brewery among different tour groups coming from all over Peru to visit the region of temporary home, I felt lucky to be there. Dorcher felt like an entity balanced between tradition and the effects of the quickly increasing tourism. More and more people are enjoying traditional Greman beer brewed with local ingredients in a village of less than 2,000 people and visiting one of the bars in the heart of Miraflores, the most tourist-filled neighborhood in Lima.
I'm not exactly sure how the beer is prepared, but I'm sure it's basically the same as preparing any other beer, using ingredients, yeast and fermentation. The most interesting part, as mentioned, is the addition of coca leaves.
