The sidecar is a

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

traditionally made with

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

(usually

cognac Cognac ( , also , ) is a variety of brandy named after the Communes of France, commune of Cognac, France. It is produced in the surrounding wine-growing region in the Departments of France, departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Cogn ...

), orange liqueur (

Cointreau Cointreau (, , ) is a brand of orange-flavoured triple sec liqueur produced in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, France. It is consumed as an apéritif and digestif, and is a component of several well-known cocktails. It was originally called Curaça ...

Grand Marnier Grand Marnier () is a French brand of liqueurs. The brand's best-known product is Grand Marnier Cordon Rouge, an orange-flavored liqueur created in 1880 by Alexandre Marnier-Lapostolle. It is made from a blend of Cognac (brandy), Cognac brandy, ...

, dry

curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

, or a

triple sec Triple sec is an orange-flavoured liqueur that originated in France. It usually contains 20–40% alcohol by volume. Triple sec is rarely consumed neat, but is used in preparing many mixed drinks such as margaritas, cosmopolitans, sidecars, L ...

), and

lemon juice The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

. It became popular in Paris and London in the early 1920s. Common modifications of the original recipe are a sugar rim, added sugar syrup, and an orange twist or lemon twist.

Similar drinks

The sidecar is categorized as a daisy: a spirit, citrus juice, and a liqueur as sweetener. Other well-known daisies include the

margarita A margarita is a cocktail consisting of tequila, triple sec, and lime juice. Some margarita recipes include simple syrup as well and are often served with salt on the rim of the glass. Margaritas can be served either shaken with ice (on the rock ...

(literally "daisy" in Spanish) and the White Lady. Daisies are variants of the older

sour The gustatory system or sense of taste is the sensory system that is partially responsible for the perception of taste. Taste is the perception stimulated when a substance in the mouth biochemistry, reacts chemically with taste receptor cells l ...

formula, which use sugar for sweetening; daisies are more complex and often drier. Daisies in general and the sidecar in particular are considered more of a challenge for bartenders because the proportion of ingredients is more difficult to balance for liqueurs of variable sweetness. In its ingredients, the drink is perhaps most closely related to the older

brandy crusta A brandy crusta is an IBA Official Cocktail made of brandy, Maraschino Luxardo, curaçao, fresh lemon juice, sugar syrup, and Angostura bitters Angostura bitters () is a concentrated bitters (herbal alcoholic preparation) based on gentia ...

, which differs both in presentation and in proportions of its components.

History

Origin

The exact origin of the sidecar is unclear, but it is thought to have been invented around the end of

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

in either London or Paris. The drink was directly named for the motorcycle attachment, which was very commonly used at the time. The Ritz Hotel in Paris claims origin of the drink. The first recipes for the sidecar appear in 1922, in Robert Vermeire's ''Cocktails and How to Mix Them'' and

Harry MacElhone Harry MacElhone (1890 – 1958) was an early 20th century bartender, famous for his bar in Paris, Harry's New York Bar; his influential cocktail book, ''Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails;'' and for inventing or first publishing numerous classic coc ...

's ''Harry's ABC of Mixing Cocktails''. It is one of six basic drinks listed in David A. Embury's ''

The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks ''The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks'' is a book about cocktails by David A. Embury, first published in 1948. The book is noteworthy for its witty, highly opinionated and conversational tone, as well as its categorization of cocktails into two main ty ...

'' (1948). In early editions of MacElhone's book, he cites the inventor as Pat MacGarry, "the popular bartender at

Buck's Club Buck's Club is a gentlemen's club in London, located at 18 Clifford Street, established in June 1919. P. G. Wodehouse mentions it in some stories and modelled his Drones Club mostly after Buck's. It is probably best known for the Buck's Fizz ...

, London", but in later editions he cites himself. While Vermiere states that the drink was "very popular in France. It was first introduced in London by MacGarry, the celebrated bartender 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 that the captain used. The earliest recipe in MacElhone is: : 229. Side-Car Cocktail. : ⅓ Cointreau (Triple sec), ⅓ Brandy, ⅓ Lemon Juice. : ''(Recipe by MacGarry, the popular bar-tender at Buck's Club, London.)'' Journalist O.O. McIntyre reports in his 1937 summary of a visit to New York City that bartenders there attributed the drink to American expatriates Erskine Gywnne and Basil Woon.

Ratios

Both MacElhone and Vermiere state the recipe as equal parts cognac,

, and lemon juice (1:1:1), now known as "the French school". Later, an "English school" of sidecars emerged, as found in the ''Savoy Cocktail Book'' (1930), which calls for two parts cognac and one part each of Cointreau and lemon juice (2:1:1). According to Embury, the original sidecar had several ingredients, which were "refined away" (there is no evidence for this). 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. However, Simon Difford, in his book ''Encyclopedia of Cocktails'', notes Harry Craddock's ratio of 2:1:1 in ''The Savoy Cocktail Book'', and then suggests a middle ground between Craddock's recipe and the "French school" equal parts recipe of 3:2:2, calling Embury's daiquiri formula "overly dry" for a sidecar.

Modifications

The earliest known mention of sugaring the rim on a sidecar glass is in the 1932 American cocktail book ''Wet Drinks for Dry People''. This was popular by 1934, when it appeared in three books: Burke's ''Complete Cocktail & Drinking Recipes'', Gordon's ''Cocktail & Food Recipes'', and ''Drinks As They Are Mixed'' (a revised reprint of Paul E. Lowe's 1904 book). Common modifications of the original recipe are a sugar rim, added sugar syrup, and an orange twist or lemon twist. Recipes of the craft cocktail renaissance of the 2000s are closer to the British ratio of 2:1:1, but almost always add sugar syrup, as the drink is otherwise considered too dry and tart.

Notes

References

External links

December 2005 "Cocktail of the Month"
at

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