The Tippling Point: The history of Sidecar

A refined unit of Remy Martin 1738 Accord Royal is considered the ideal ingredient for building up a Sidecar cocktail. (Photo: Ace Barro via Unsplash)

Prohibition time in the US. Harry McElhone's legendary New York bar was a favorite haunt of American soldiers as well as expats. One night an American army captain arrived in a motorcycle sidecar chauffeured by his friend. Harry, the barman, knew that the situation demanded something special, not the regular cognac that he served his customers with. He threw into the cognac, some Cointreau and lemon juice and served it in a coupe, chilled.

Sidecar (since the captain arrived in a sidecar) was born.

Er...mm... well that is only one of the many stories going around about the genesis of this amazing cocktail (it was in the 1948 book The Fine Art of Mixing Drinks, by David A. Embury, that this hard-to-believe but romantic narrative was included). Anyway, Sidecar became the most interesting drink that came out of the dark times of the Prohibition era. A bit of cognac, a squirt of orange liqueur, a dash of lemon juice - what a journey the combo had pulled off!

But if you dig harder, poking your nose deeper into history, you might find distant but debatable ancestors of Sidecar that span many countries and continents.

In the mid-1800s, barman Joseph Santini had already been tweaking a fantastic cocktail named the Brandy Crusta. The only difference from Sidecar? Well, Brandy Crusta used, no points for guessing, brandy instead of cognac in the mix.

Maraschino liqueur, curacao, fresh lemon juice, and bitters along with rum were served in glasses with their rims heavily sugared to take away the sourness. How that ancient recipe crossed the Atlantic is still a mystery but as it did, it did not forget to chuck the rum to embrace the darling spirit of America - cognac.

In short, people have been enjoying a drink like Sidecar for a long long time even before an American army captain decided to stop by a bar in New York while travelling in a motorcycle sidecar.

So what are the present-day ingredients of the legendary cocktail?

Sidecar continued to evolve even after assuming its popular title. Its ingredients kept on changing as demand increased. Curacao was slowly replaced by Cointreau, an orange liqueur with a better pedigree. Since the flavour of brandy could waver with the quality of grapes that go into it, cognac was preferred, as it is more dependable as a base drink. Finally, it settled into a combination of cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice in an approximate ratio of 2:1:1.

But which particular cognac goes into a Sidecar?

A refined unit of Remy Martin 1738 Accord Royal is considered the ideal ingredient for building up the cocktail. Oaky and smooth, Remy Martin. While on one hand, it delivers notes of vanilla and toasted bread to the cocktail, it also generously lets the sweetness of orange permeate into the final taste.

Want to whip up your own sidecar? Here's one of the many recipes:

Ingredients:

2 oz Rémy Martin 1738® Accord Royal

3/4 oz Cointreau®

3/4 oz lemon juice

Directions:

Pour 2 oz of Rémy Martin 1738 Accord Royal, 3/4 oz of Cointreau and 3/4 oz of lemon juice into a shaker filled with ice.

Strain and pour into a coupette glass.

Finish with orange peel for a rich flavour or lemon peel for freshness.

Sidecar today is a combination of cognac, Cointreau and lemon juice in an approximate ratio of 2:1:1. (Photo by Evan Swigart via Wikimedia Commons 2.0)