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CALL 03333 44 77 65
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17A KINGSLAND ROAD, LONDON E2 8AA

How to make ...

Sidecar

This French creation is a solid favourite among bartenders and serious drinkers, but the Sidecar is a drink that is a little overlooked by general punters.

Method

Chill a martini glass/coupette in the freezer or fill it with ice.

Take your Boston glass or small tin and, using your jigger to measure, add the brandy and triple sec to the shaker.

Using your Mexican elbow and a jigger to measure, squeeze 25ml of lemon juice and add it to the shaker.

Fill your shaker with cubed ice and seal using your Boston tin or lid, before shaking vigorously for 10-15 seconds or until your tin is very cold.

Remove your glass from the freezer or empty it of ice if necessary.

Use a lemon wedge to coat the rim of the glass, and dip the wet rim in demerara sugar or carefully sprinkle it over to give the glass a sugar rim.

Using your Hawthorne strainer and your fine strainer, double strain your cocktail into your chilled, rimmed martini glass or coupette.

Garnish with a lemon twist.

Serve and enjoy!

History

The history of the Sidecar is spread over three countries, France, England, and America. Its first written appearances comes in 1919.

In his 1948 Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, David A. Embury writes:

“It was invented by a friend of mine at a bar in Paris during World War I and was named after the motorcycle sidecar in which the good captain customarily was driven to and from the little bistro where the drink was born and christened.”

Whilst the name of the bartender isn’t given it’s thought that it was created at Harry’s New York bar in Paris. The Sidecar then later crossed over The Channel and was introduced to London by Pat MacGarry at London’s Bucks Club. Dale DeGroff has a different perspective on how the Sidecar was named:

“The word sidecar means something totally different in the world of the cocktail: 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 called a sidecar.”

The Sidecar’s invention is very much disputed. It could have been named for an American army captain who frequented Harry’s New York bar in Paris around 1920, using the motorcycle sidecar to take its name.

Others claim it could have been invented in New Orleans, making it one of the better cocktails to appear out of prohibition.

Learn to make this classic cocktail during one of our award-winning cocktail making masterclasses, with prices starting from £70 per head.

Allergens
No common allergens to be found, although, since every body is different, we advise you check out this recipe's ingredients list just to be sure!
Ingredients

37.5ml Cognac or Brandy

12.5ml Triple Sec

25ml Lemon Juice

Demarara Sugar for rim

Lemon Twist to garnish

Times:

Prep: 2 Minutes

Make: 30 Seconds

Total: 2 Minutes and 30 Seconds

Calories:

184 calories

Servings:

Serves 1

Method

Chill a martini glass/coupette in the freezer or fill it with ice.

Take your Boston glass or small tin and, using your jigger to measure, add the brandy and triple sec to the shaker.

Using your Mexican elbow and a jigger to measure, squeeze 25ml of lemon juice and add it to the shaker.

Fill your shaker with cubed ice and seal using your Boston tin or lid, before shaking vigorously for 10-15 seconds or until your tin is very cold.

Remove your glass from the freezer or empty it of ice if necessary.

Use a lemon wedge to coat the rim of the glass, and dip the wet rim in demerara sugar or carefully sprinkle it over to give the glass a sugar rim.

Using your Hawthorne strainer and your fine strainer, double strain your cocktail into your chilled, rimmed martini glass or coupette.

Garnish with a lemon twist.

Serve and enjoy!

History

The history of the Sidecar is spread over three countries, France, England, and America. Its first written appearances comes in 1919.

In his 1948 Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, David A. Embury writes:

“It was invented by a friend of mine at a bar in Paris during World War I and was named after the motorcycle sidecar in which the good captain customarily was driven to and from the little bistro where the drink was born and christened.”

Whilst the name of the bartender isn’t given it’s thought that it was created at Harry’s New York bar in Paris. The Sidecar then later crossed over The Channel and was introduced to London by Pat MacGarry at London’s Bucks Club. Dale DeGroff has a different perspective on how the Sidecar was named:

“The word sidecar means something totally different in the world of the cocktail: 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 called a sidecar.”

The Sidecar’s invention is very much disputed. It could have been named for an American army captain who frequented Harry’s New York bar in Paris around 1920, using the motorcycle sidecar to take its name.

Others claim it could have been invented in New Orleans, making it one of the better cocktails to appear out of prohibition.

Learn to make this classic cocktail during one of our award-winning cocktail making masterclasses, with prices starting from £70 per head.

Allergens
No common allergens to be found, although, since every body is different, we advise you check out this recipe's ingredients list just to be sure!
Recommended
Video Transcription

Hi, folks. Sasā here from TT Liquor. Today, we teamed up with Hennessy, and we’re going to show you one of the most classic cognac cocktails there is, The Sidecar. It’s refreshing, it’s decadent. And in the video, you’re going to see how it’s done.

 

Hi guys. It’s Kay, back here at TT Liquor. Today, I’m going to be showing you how to make a real classic, a Sidecar. As always, we’re going to start by chilling our glass. I’m just going to fill that with some crushed ice, pop it to one side and let it chill down while I make this cocktail.

 

And the first ingredient I need is some cognac. And we’re using this beautiful Hennessy, and we want 35ml of our cognac.

 

We’re using Cointreau (triple sec). And I want about 15ml of our Cointreau.

 

The last thing going into the shaker is going to be some fresh lemon juice. Now, I want about a shot or 25ml of lemon juice. I’ll just use my measure to make sure I’ve got the right amount. I’ll pop that in there with my booze.

 

Fill this with cube ice. Pop my tin on and give it nice shake. And shake that for about 15 seconds.

 

Beautiful. So I’ll pop that open. I’m going to rim this glass with a little bit of brown sugar. I’ll cut myself a little wedge of lemon just to rub around the edge of the glass. I’ve got some brown sugar here and I’m just going to use that to rim off of this glass.

 

So I’ve got my hawthorn strainer and my fine mesh strainer. I’ll just pour it through both of those. And finally for a garnish, a nice orange twist just to expel some of the oils over the top of the drink. Twist that and pop it on the edge for our garnish. And that is a classic Hennessy Sidecar.