Sidecar co*cktail Recipe: The Original 1920s Masterpiece (2024)

FAQs

What is the origin of the sidecar co*cktail? ›

The Sidecar is also often served with a sugared rim, and like many classic co*cktails it has a fuzzy history. By most accounts it was invented around the end of World War I in either London or Paris, with the famous Ritz Hotel in Paris claiming the origin of the drink.

Use a cheap mass-market brandy or a cut-rate triple sec, and your Sidecar's gonna suck. This is a time when you want to break out a nice (but not outrageously old or expensive) VSOP cognac, a good Armagnac or an excellent California brandy such as Germain-Robin.

Fun Fact: In bartending culture, a Sidecar also refers to something leftover in a shaker if a bartender made too much of a co*cktail. The remainders of the shaker can be served in a shot glass; et voilà a sidecar. The fusion of cognac, orange liqueur, and lemon was one of the favorites around Prohibition.

THE RÉMY SIDECAR. Pour 2 oz of Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal, ¾ oz of Cointreau and ¾ oz of lemon juice into a shaker filled with ice. Shake, strain and pour into a coupette glass. Finish with lemon peel for freshness.

Three ideas were presented: the forecar (a tricycle in which the passenger rides in a seat in front of the driver); the trailer-car (in which he is towed behind the motorcycle); and the sidecar, designed by Jean Bertoux, who won the prize. In 1903, W. J. Graham was awarded a patent and called this vehicle the sidecar.

The sidecar was initially developed for bicycles back in 1893 in France. The inspiration for their invention was a newspaper competition that wanted to discover the best way to get a passenger onto a bike.

Hennessy recommends either of its VS or VSOP Cognacs, Courvoisier recommends its VSOP Cognac, Martell suggests its VS Cognac and Remy Martin endorses the use of its 1738 Accord Royal Fine Champagne Cognac for use in creating a “Royal Sidecar” co*cktail.

Brandy: if you don't have true Cognac, other brandies will work. Rum: a decent aged rum makes for a lovely sidecar as well.

While Grand Marnier and Cointreau are brand names of specific products, Triple Sec is actually a category in and of itself. Many brands make Triple Sec — in fact, Cointreau itself is a triple sec. The alcohol content in different types of Triple Sec vary quite a bit – from about 15 percent to as much as 40 percent.

Forgetting its origins, the heyday of the Sidecar coincided with the Jazz Age and Prohibition. The disillusioned young American writers who frequented Paris in the 1920s adopted the drink, most notably Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Henry Miller.

What is a sidecar with a Bloody Mary? ›

[For those who don't know what a “Sidecar” is, it is a side of beer, so as you start to drink your bloody you can add beer to it, which helps compliment and break down the mix as you enjoy!]

The sidecar is a classic sour co*cktail made with brandy (traditionally cognac), orange liqueur, and lemon juice. It is usually served in a coupe, co*cktail, or martini glass with a lemon garnish, often with a sugared rim to balance the co*cktail's sourness.

Cointreau is a type of triple sec, whereas Grand Marnier is triple sec combined with cognac. Both are classified as orange liqueurs in the United States. Both have 40% alcohol by volume. Cointreau is unaged, while Grand Marnier contains barrel-aged cognac.

“The word sidecar means something totally different in the world of the co*cktail: if the bartender misses his mark on ingredient quantities so when he strains the drink into the serving glass there's a bit left over in the shaker, he pours out that little extra into a shot glass on the side – that little glass is ...

It was first introduced in London by MacGarry, the celebrated bar-tender of Buck's Club. Like so many classic co*cktails we shall probably never know who created/named the Sidecar co*cktail but it would appear to have been created by MacGarry in London but was then made popular by Harry MacElhone at his bar in Paris.

It all began when a French-owned family company began sending their world-renowned cognac to bars (formerly known as coffee houses) in New Orleans. It so happened that this particular cognac was a favorite of Antoine Peychaud, inventor of his namesake’s bitters, and was used to create the original Sazerac co*cktail.

side·​car ˈsīd-ˌkär. 1. : a car attached to the side of a motorcycle for a passenger. 2. : a co*cktail consisting of a liqueur with lemon juice and brandy.