The Sidecar Cocktail - The Original Recipe
Discover the original recipe and all the steps to prepare a perfect sidecar cocktail.
serves for
total time
ingredients
Preparation
Glass:
Cocktail cup (martini cup)
Method:
Shake and double strain
Step 01
Cool the cup by placing it directly in the freezer.
Step 02
Cool and empty the shaker - for home use we recommend the 'cobbler shaker', also called 'traditional' or 'continental'.
Step 03
Squeeze the lemon and make the juice. Pour the juice into the shaker using a jigger.
Step 04
Measure the Cognac with the jigger and pour it into the shaker.
Step 05
Measure with the jigger and pour the orange liqueur into the shaker.
Step 06
Fill the shaker with ice up to 3/4 of its capacity. Close with the cap and shake vigorously until all the metal parts of the shaker have completely cooled down and covered with condensation.
It is time to take the cup to border it. Wet the rim of the glass with a slice of lemon.
Step 07
Swirl the cup in the sugar on a cocktail napkin or saucer. For the rim it is sufficient to lightly garnish the edge of the glass, without exaggerating.
Step 08
Open the shaker. Pour the cocktail into the glass, filtering it with a colander (double strain). Double filtering is done to prevent ice flakes from ending up inside the glass.
Step 09
With a potato peeler, remove a tongue of peel from an orange. Twist it over the glass to squeeze the essential oils into the cocktail. Garnish with the zest placed on the edge of the glass.
Curiosity
The sidecar appears for the first time in Robert Vermeire's book Cocktails: How to Mix Them, published in 1922. In that recipe, unlike the contemporary one, the drink contained all the ingredients in equal parts. However, its provenance remains uncertain: some believe it was created by Harry MacElhone at Harry's Bar in Paris, in 1921, for an eccentric army captain who went to the place with a sidecar. But there are also those who think it was born in New Orleans. Still, others hypothesise that it was created in London.
Certainly, the sidecar cocktail dates back to the golden age of mixology, according to the version of Frank Meier, the famous barman trained at the Hoffman House hotel in New York, who landed in 1921 at the legendary Hotel Ritz in Paris, where he remained on a permanent basis until 1943.
