Sidecar

The Sidecar is three things in a chilled glass: brandy, orange liqueur, and fresh lemon juice, shaken hard with ice and strained into a coupe with a sugared rim. It first shows up in cocktail books in 1922, and both Paris and London claim it. The story most often told is about an army officer who rode to his favorite bar in the sidecar of a motorcycle, though nobody has ever proved it. The classic is made with French cognac. We make ours with Spanish brandy de Jerez, which is aged in old sherry casks and gives the drink a rounder, warmer flavor with notes of raisin and vanilla.

If you’ve made our Daiquiri or Whiskey Sour, you already know how this works. Same family, same shake, with brandy and orange in place of rum or whiskey. It takes about five minutes and it’s a good drink for the first cold evenings of fall.

What You’re Learning

The sour formula. A sour is a spirit, something sour, and something sweet. The Sidecar uses 2 parts brandy to 3/4 part lemon and 3/4 part orange liqueur, and the liqueur is the sweetener. Learn that ratio once and you can make a Daiquiri, a Margarita, or a Whiskey Sour from memory. When a sour tastes off, it’s almost always the balance: too sharp means a little more sweet, too sweet means a little more lemon.

Shaking does more than mix. Twelve to fifteen seconds of hard shaking with plenty of ice chills the drink well below room temperature, adds a little water from the melting ice, and whips in tiny air bubbles. That water is part of the recipe, not a mistake. It softens the alcohol and brings the flavors together, and the air gives the drink its light, silky texture. A Sidecar that’s only stirred tastes hot and harsh.

Ingredients

• 2 oz Spanish brandy (Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva) or cognac
• 3/4 oz Cointreau or another good orange liqueur
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice (about half a lemon)
• Superfine sugar, for the rim
• 1 strip of orange peel
• Ice, for shaking

Method

1. Chill the glass. Put a coupe glass in the freezer for 10 minutes, or fill it with ice water while you get everything else ready and pour it out before rimming.
2. Sugar the rim. Spread a thin layer of sugar on a small plate. Run the cut side of your squeezed lemon half around the outside edge of the glass, then roll that outside edge through the sugar. Tap off any loose sugar. Keep it off the inside of the rim so it doesn’t fall into the drink.
3. Measure. Use a jigger to pour the brandy, Cointreau, and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker.
4. Shake hard. Fill the shaker two-thirds with ice, close it tightly, and shake hard for 12 to 15 seconds, until the outside of the shaker is frosty and too cold to hold comfortably.
5. Strain. Strain into the chilled glass through a Hawthorne strainer, holding a fine strainer over the glass to catch ice chips and lemon pulp.
6. Garnish and serve. Hold the orange peel skin side down over the drink and squeeze it to spray its oils across the surface. Rest it on the rim and serve right away.

Notes

• Spanish brandy or cognac. Brandy de Jerez is aged in a solera of old sherry casks, so it’s rounder and slightly sweeter than cognac. A Solera Reserva is the right level for mixing; save a Gran Reserva for sipping. For the classic French version, use a VS or VSOP cognac.
• Sugar half the rim. A full sugared rim is traditional, but rimming only half the glass lets you choose, sip by sip, how sweet each taste is.
• Taste your lemons. Lemons vary. If the drink tastes too sharp, add 1/4 oz simple syrup to the shaker next time. If it tastes flat and sweet, add a little more lemon.
• About the orange liqueur. Cointreau is the classic choice. Grand Marnier makes a heavier, sweeter drink. Inexpensive triple sec is much sweeter, so cut it to 1/2 oz.
• Fresh lemon only. Bottled juice tastes dull and a little bitter, and in a three-ingredient drink there’s nowhere to hide it. Squeeze it right before you shake.