Sidecar

The Sidecar is the definitive brandy sour: cognac, orange liqueur, and lemon juice shaken to a sharp, clean balance and served up. It emerged in the years after the First World War and has been argued over ever since — about where it was born, who built it, and in what proportions it is properly mixed.

A Cocktail With Two Birthplaces

The Sidecar appeared in print in 1922, in two different books in two different cities: Harry MacElhone's Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails in Paris and Robert Vermeire's Cocktails: How to Mix Them in London. Each city claims it. MacElhone, who ran Harry's New York Bar in Paris, is the name most often attached to the drink — though MacElhone himself credited it to Pat MacGarry of Buck's Club in London. The honest position is that nobody can prove it.

The Spec

The Sidecar's enduring argument is one of proportion. The so-called French school pours it in equal parts — cognac, Cointreau, lemon — for a sharper, drier drink; the English school favours a cognac-forward build. The version below leans on the cognac while keeping the liqueur and lemon in lockstep, which most modern palates read as balanced.

Cognac Is the Point

The Sidecar is a showcase for its base, so the base has to be worth showcasing. A decent VSOP cognac is the sensible floor; the rough, hot bottom-shelf bottlings have nowhere to hide here. Armagnac makes a fine, more rustic substitute.

The Sugar Rim Is Optional

A sugared rim is traditional and, to some, heresy — David Embury thought it ruined the drink. It does change it, sweetening each sip from the edge inward. A practical compromise is to sugar only half the rim, leaving the drinker the choice glass by glass.

Bottom Line

Strip a Sidecar to its bones and you have the master template for a whole family of drinks: spirit, orange liqueur, citrus. That it still tastes complete a century on — and still starts arguments — is the measure of how well the original was built.

Variations