The Sidecar Cocktail

I don’t know how I got this old without ever having a Sidecar, but I recently sampled a friend’s at Town Talk * in Minneapolis. I’m something of a sour junkie, so the Sidecar instantly jumped way up my list of favorites.

Ahh, yum… the Sidecar…

Alas! that so few bars are prepared to serve a properly made one, and so many prepared to abuse us with sours shot from guns. I’ll save that rant for another day. Town Talk’s Sidecar is for real, and is excellent.

The Sidecar Cocktail

There are many reputable recipes, it seems, depending on how you prioritize boozy, sweet, and sour; I’m partial to Robert Hess’s version:

The Sidecar Cocktail

• 2 oz cognac (I’ve been happy with Remy VSOP, and delighted with Sempe Armagnac)
• 1 oz Cointreau
• ½ oz lemon juice

Shake with ice, double strain into a cold cocktail glass, express and garnish with a lemon twist.

And Doug Winship, at Pegu Blog, has a long and thoughtfully researched essay on the topic.

* —Town Talk is, sadly, defunct.

“The Sidecar Cocktail” at cold-glass.com : All text and photos © 2011 Douglas M. Ford. All rights reserved.