Health & Fitness
Adversity Sometimes Calls for a Sidecar
When you're away from your home bar and need a solid, tasty cocktail, the Sidecar is a great drink to have in your bag of tricks.
If your plane goes down in the Andes and you only manage to salvage one or two bar items from the wreckage, you can still make a couple of cocktails. And, it’s good to have a couple of drinks in you before you have to start eating your fellow passengers. It was a friend of mine named Eric Warner who led me to this realization with his cocktail-related resourcefulness. He made me realize the potential benefits of practicing a few minimalistic, yet tasty drink recipes.
We were in a land far away (Lake Alamanor) and had access to only the most rudimentary bar tools: no blenders, no muddlers, no carbonated beverages of any kind – just like Robinson Crusoe, only with iPhones and WiFi access. Yet Eric was undaunted by our circumstances and put his mixing skills to work with the resources that were at hand. What he came up with was the Sidecar. It’s a very tasty recipe that I had completely forgotten about and haven’t seen served in a bar since the “Rockford Files” was still in production.
A traditional Sidecar is made with Cognac, but Brandy is a reasonable substitute in the event of a plane crash or other circumstances that limit your options. The Sidecar is also one of those drinks with a number of fun variations. There is a Bourbon version and several Rum versions, such as the Boston Sidecar, which adds rum to the Brandy and uses lime in place of lemon juice. There is also a Vodka version, though it’s not usually identified as a Sidecar, and, of course, a Margarita is pretty much a Sidecar that uses Tequila in place of Brandy. When you’re away from your home bar and need a solid, tasty cocktail, the Sidecar is a great drink to have in your bag of tricks.
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Sidecar
* 1 oz. Brandy * 1/2 oz. Lemon Juice * 1/2 oz. Cointreau/Triple Sec.
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Add the three ingredients into a shaker with ice, give it a shake, and strain into an Old Fashion or any 3 - 5 oz. glass. Garnish with a lemon wedge and you’re ready to face whatever the fates throw your way. Don’t forget to give me a “like” on Facebook and check out more recipes at www.30-SecondBartender.com!
