The Sidecar

After The Martini and The Manhattan, I knew what I wanted to try next. As I researched the first two, the Sidecar kept coming up as another popular classical drink. I've only recently heard about this drink on The Barefoot Contessa. I thought I'd give it a try.

My taster LOVED it. This is definitely one to try again soon.

The Sidecar was invented during WWI either in London or Paris - again, unclear origins. The lore is that it was invented by an American Army Captain in Paris. It was supposedly named after "the motorcycle sidecar in which the good captain was driven to and from the little bistro where the drink was born and christened".

The original Sidecar called for equal parts Cognac, Cointreau, and fresh lemon juice. Later versions have gone much drier upping the Cognac to 8x the Cointreau and just a twist of lemon.

I did not know much about Cognac so did a little research. It is the most famous variety of brandy. It's named for the French town where the grapes are produced for this spirit of distilled wine. There are 3 official brandy regions in Europe: Cognac, the French town of Armagnac, and the Spanish town of Jerez where I have been and sipped their famous sherry.

And then a little research on Cointreau. It is a type of triple sec orange flavored liquer. Cointreau sources its oranges from Spain, Brazil, and Haiti.

David's Swizzle Stick Rating:
The Sidecar - 5 Swizzle Sticks

The Sidecar - 1.5 oz. Cognac, 1.5 oz. Cointreau, 1.5 oz. fresh lemon juice. Run a lemon slice around the rim of a chilled Martini cocktail glass. Coat the rim in sugar. Fill a shaker half way with ice and add the 3 ingredients. Shake vigorously. Strain into the chilled glass.

David would reduce the Cointreau and lemon juice and forgo the sugar rim.

This was definitely palatable to me. But cutting the sugar rim and the sweetener? Sounds like messing up a good thing to me!