Sidecar (cocktail)

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Sidecar
Type:	Cocktail
Primary alcohol by volume:	Brandy
Served:	shaken
Standard garnish:	Sugared glass, lemon rind
Standard drinkware:	Cocktail glass
Commonly used ingredients:	One part brandy or Cognac One part Cointreau One part lemon juice
Preparation:	Mix the ingredients in a shaker half full of ice. Strain and serve in a sugar-rimmed glass. Garnish with a strip of lemon rind

The Sidecar is a classic cocktail traditionally made with Cognac, orange liqueur (Cointreau, Grand Marnier or another triple sec), and lemon juice.

It is a variation on the older Brandy Daisy (brandy, yellow Chartreuse and lemon juice).

1 Origin
2 Context in popular culture
3 Related cocktails
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Origin

The exact origin of the Sidecar is unclear, but it is thought to have been invented around the end of World War I in either London or Paris.

The first recipes for the Sidecar appear in 1922, in Harry MacElhone's Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails and Robert Vermeire's Cocktails and How to Mix Them. It is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's (The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, 1948).

In early editions of MacElhone's book, he cites the inventor as Pat MacGarry, "the Popular bar-tender at Buck's Club, London," but in later editions he cites himself. Vermiere states, "This cocktail is very popular in France. It was first introduced in London by MacGarry, the celebrated bar-tender of Buck's Club." Embury credits the invention of the drink to an American Army captain in Paris during World War I "and 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".

Both MacElhone and Vermiere state the recipe as equal parts Cognac, Cointreau, and lemon juice, now known as "the French school". Later, an "English school" of Sidecars emerged, as found in the Savoy Cocktail Book (1930), which call for two Cognac and one each Cointreau and lemon juice.

According to Embury, the original Sidecar had several more ingredients, which were "refined away." Embury also states the drink is simply a Daiquiri with brandy as its base rather than rum, and with Cointreau as the sweetening agent rather than sugar syrup. He recommends the same proportions (8:2:1) for both, making a much less sweet Sidecar.

The earliest mention of sugaring the rim on a Sidecar glass is 1934, in three different books: Burke's Complete Cocktail & Drinking Recipes, Gordon's Cocktail & Food Recipes, Drinks As They Are Mixed (a revised reprint of Paul E. Lowe's 1904 book).

[edit] Context in popular culture

In Meg Cabot's The Princess Diaries series, the heroine's grandmother drinks Sidecars.

Sidecars are also mentioned in the movie Auntie Mame starring Rosalind Russell. After a night of soirées, Mame Dennis is informed of the imminent arrival of Mr. Babcock, her nephew Patrick's trustee. She requests that Patrick go to Ito, the Japanese house boy, to bring her "a light breakfast, black coffee, and a Sidecar."

A Sidecar is one of the cocktails offered by Daphne Castle (Maggie Smith) to Hercule Poirot (Peter Ustinov) in the 1982 film Evil Under the Sun.

In the Emmy-award winning British period drama series Upstairs, Downstairs, the Sidecar appears twice. During one episode which takes place in 1927, Georgina Worsley makes the cocktail with the assistance of the Bellamy's footman, Frederick. The other mention of the Sidecar comes in 1923 when James Bellamy orders it for himself and his dancing partner in a London night club.

In the television show Gilmore Girls, Emily Gilmore mentions the Sidecar in two separate episodes.

In the short story "The Smoker" by David Schickler, the Bonner family drinks Sidecars with lime instead of lemon.

In the movie A Woman in Flames, Chris serves Eva a Sidecar when they meet in his penthouse for the first time.

In the movie The Bonfire of the Vanities, Arthur Ruskin (Alan King) is drinking a sidecar when being interviewed by the journalist Peter Fallows (Bruce Willis) and then dies at the table with the sidecar still unfinished.

In the Doctor Who episode The Unicorn and the Wasp the Doctor's companion Donna Noble asks for a Sidecar at Lady Eddison's garden party set in 1926.

[edit] Related cocktails

Chelsea Sidecar — gin replaces the brandy base
Rum Sidecar — golden or dark rum is substituted for brandy
- Boston Sidecar — both light or golden rum and brandy are used, along with lime replacing lemon
- Spiced Sidecar — Morgan's Spiced Rum is used as well as brandy.
Brandy Daisy — grenadine syrup, or another sweetener, often replaces the triple sec of a sidecar; proportions differ for the other ingredients which remain similar
Bourbon Sidecar — bourbon replaces the brandy base
Pisco Sidecar — Pisco replaces the brandy base