The Sidecar (1923)

Equal thirds in the old book

Harry McElhone's 1923 Side-Car entry gives equal thirds of Cointreau, brandy and lemon; Cognac is our choice of brandy. It credits MacGarry, the bartender at Buck's Club in London. The central formula appears again in Barflies and Cocktails in 1927.

The recipe offers a person and place beside a few measured ingredients.

The Jazz Age article uses Sidecar alongside several other formulas whose names carry expectations. In this case, the familiar three-ingredient drink is there, but its equal proportions differ from many later spirit-forward servings.

Our recipe gives brandy more room, with a little less lemon than Cointreau. It's a modern adjustment you can taste as a stronger brandy presence, not simply the same thirds written in milliliters.

Sugar at the edge

The optional rim remains outside the liquid. It can change a sip without increasing the sugar dissolved through every part of the cocktail.

That is the reason to coat only half. Someone who enjoys a little crust can turn toward it; someone who wants the plain tart mixture has another edge available. A full rim would offer less of that choice.

Prepare the glass before shaking if you want the sugar. The cocktail can then go straight into a cold, ready vessel, without waiting while a bowl of sugar is found.

Lemon in the glass and above it

The juice is measured after straining out heavy pulp. It joins the brandy and liqueur during the shake, with mixing ice providing cold and dilution.

The garnish is separate. A wheel can rest at the rim, or a twist can send peel oils over the surface before joining the glass. Both are modern serving options in this recipe.

For a more elaborate brandy presentation, the Brandy Crusta lines its bowl with a broad lemon coil inside a sugar crust. Sidecar asks much less of the peel.

For more of the bar-book background, read about cocktails in 1920s London and Paris↗ on our sister site, Forgotten Drink.