Sidecar Cocktail

"the IT Cocktail" says Entertainment Weekly.

Long overshadowed by the hussy Cosmopolitan, this speakeasy standard is making a comeback as subtle as its flavor."* It's also got a champion in Busta Rhymes, who sang the praises of its main ingredient - Cognac.

Two parts strong, one part sweet, and one part sour. These are the perfect proportions of this classic cocktail. If you mix it just right, you will get instant transport back to the days before vodka arrived on the scene.

	Entertainment Weekly named this drink to its infamous "IT" list for 2002. "Long overshadowed by the hussy cosmopolitan this speakeasy standard is making a comeback as subtle as its flavor."*

The Sidecar has been in full resurgence during the last few years, meaning that crude variations have appeared. A neatly sugarcoated rim, a pale opacity, a biting chill off the glass, and a tartness that makes it impossible to tell where the lemon lets off and the Cointreau begins - these are signs you've got a real one. If you the bartender reach for the sweet-and-sour mix, you'll know you're going to get a dud.

The Sidecar was invented at a bar in Paris, during World War I, and was named after a good captain who was customarily driven to and from the little bistro in a motorcycle sidecar. According to mythology, the officer was under the weather and asked for an aperitif before dinner. Brandy would be used to combat a cold in those

days yet is traditionally an after-dinner drink, so the captain suggested that the bartender add lemon juice and Cointreau to lighten it up. Vitamin C is helpful when fighting colds too and the Brandy warms you up. A classic cocktail was born. In the 1920s, the Sidecar became a signature drink for the Hemmingway ex-pat crowd in postwar Paris.

We can only wonder if Harry, of Harry's New York Bar in Paris, had first mixed the drink for the captain, as is quietly rumored. But even Harry's grandson, Duncon MacElhone, seems unsure, by just mentioning that "the history of the Sidecar is most confusing."