It started in law school. The drinking. Well, the cocktail making and drinking. Not “drinking” in the pejorative sense. Although, attorneys are notorious drinkers, especially inside the DC beltway. Thespians are also known lushes, if we’re allowing stereotypes. Combine the two — law students of a certain Gilbert and Sullivan society — and long nights of belting libation fueled show-tunes becomes far from uncommon.
Admittedly, if you’re a theater loving, teetotaling litigator, you are owed an apology … but I’m betting you aren’t.
Less the showtunes, this raucous carousing isn’t abnormal behavior for students. But the absence of cheap booze and saccharine mixers masquerading as palatable cocktails was a notable change from undergrad frat parties. Here, city blocks from the U.S. Capitol and Supreme Court, members of the Gilbert and Sullivan society were known to swirl Cognac and sip single malts. Thus, it was here where cocktail culture shifted from secondhand lore to firsthand reality.
This was the inebriated advice from the Pirates of Penzance swaying upon the half-deck of the H.M.S. Pinafore while harmonizing to “Three Little Maids”: choose your base liquor; find a classic cocktail that employs said liquor; buy requisite ingredients; practice, practice, practice.
Whether providence or fate, the stars aligned upon that classic of French cocktails: the Sidecar.
Okay, the origin story of this alluring brandy cocktail is, frankly, up to your discretion. As is the ratio of its three ingredients. You decide if you like the idea of a WWI Army captain vrooming into Harry’s New York Bar in Paris astride his sidecar accompanied motorcycle and requesting Cognac with Cointreau and lemon. Or perhaps you’d prefer the Masterclass story of it being invented by bartender Pat MacGarry at Buck’s Club in London, “who may have named it after the leftover cocktail in a shaker often served in a little cup next to a larger drink.” Whatever tickles your fancy. After all, history is written by the victor, and in the Sidecar’s tale, everyone is a victor.
The point remains: the Sidecar is an exemplary cocktail for the discriminating connoisseur among us, be he or she cocktail enthusiast or beginner. Play with this one. We recommend keeping the two ounces of brandy static and simply adjusting the sweet (Cointreau) and sour (lemon) to taste.
And while we’re pedantically droning on, let our strong affinity for Calvados (apple brandy) be known; it plays markedly well with the others.
Start with this basic Sidecar recipe:
• 2 parts brandy (Calvados or Armangac recommended)
• ¾ part Cointreau (unless you prefer Grand Marnier; you just splashed out for French brandy, generic triple sec is unacceptable)
• ¾ part lemon juice (fresh squeezed … need we remind you?)
Briskly stir all ingredients with copious amounts of ice. Strain in a chilled coupe. Belt for all to hear: “I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General.”
For additional food-centric reviews and tips, or to make a comment, email On The Table at OnTheTableReviews@gmail.com, or visit facebook.com/onthetablereviews.
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Drink like a litigating thespian | On the Table - Colorado Springs Gazette
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