Sidecar (cocktail)
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| Sidecar | |
| Type: | Cocktail |
|---|---|
| Primary alcohol by volume: | |
| Served: | shaken |
| Standard garnish: | Sugared glass, lemon rind |
| Standard drinkware: |
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| Commonly used ingredients: | |
| 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, Cointreau, and lemon juice. It is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's classic (The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks). The exact origin of the Sidecar is unclear, but it was probably created near the end of World War I in either London or Paris.
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[edit] Origin
The Sidecar is thought to have been invented around the end of World War I. It is a variation on the older Brandy Daisy (brandy, yellow Chartreuse, and lemon juice). The first recipes for the Sidecar appear in 1922, in both Harry MacElhone's Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails and Robert Vermeire's Cocktails and How to Mix Them. 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." David A. Embury (The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, 1948) 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] 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.
[edit] Related cocktails
- Rum Sidecar
[edit] See also
