The "Side-by-Sidecar" Comparison Test

One of my all time favorite drinks to make for people is also one of the simplest drinks to make. The Sidecar is a simple mix of lemon juice, orange liqueur and brandy, usually in equal proportions. Here is the traditional sidecar recipe that I most often use:

In a cocktail shaker, combine:
1 oz brandy
1 oz orange liqueur
1 oz fresh squeezed lemon juice

Shake over ice, strain into a martini glass and serve.

A couple of quick notes (after all, it wouldn't me a post from me without a couple of quick notes):
1) The orange liqueur of choice for the Sidecar is Cointreau, but the drink does not suffer too much from using a decent Triple Sec instead. Cointreau is worth the investment - it really adds to the drink! But if it is too pricey for you, standard triple sec will do in a pinch. Grand Marnier is a bit too strong of an orange flavor for this particular cocktail
2) As always, fresh squeezed lemon juice is better than store bought lemon juice. I often enjoy my lemon juice a little "pulpy" in drinks such as a whiskey sour, but this is one case where you will want to make sure to strain all of the pulp out of your lemon juice before adding it to your mixture. Since the drink is served without ice and in a martini glass, the lemon pulp is quite noticeable and reduces the drink's aesthetic appeal.
3) Make sure you use an aged brandy - anything with VSOP on the label will work! VSOP is a measurement of how long your brandy has been aged (and it stands for "Very Superior Old Pale"). If you see "VSOPX" or "XVSOP," the "x" stands for "extra" and means it has been aged longer (and is thus superior).

Where does the Sidecar get its name, you may ask? I'm so glad you asked (this is one of my favorite
stories)! While most drinks are named after the bar that first served the drink, the bartender who invented it or named as tributes to famous individuals, the Sidecar is named after the mode of transportation of the class of people who most commonly ordered the drink. The Sidecar was a favorite of French military officers during WWI. Because these officers were too important to drive themselves around, the often rode in the side car of motorcycles - hence the name "Sidecar." The Apple Cart cocktail that we made back in May 2013 is a variation on the sidecar that features Calvados (apple brandy) and changes the traditional sidecar proportions just a little bit.

Inspired in some way by the Apple Cart, my friend Zack and I set out to perform a side-by-side comparison of other such sidecar variations. Brandy is traditionally made from grapes, but can be made from many other fruits, and the variety of fruit brandies is staggering. After a quick trip to the local liquor store, we had in our possession the following fruit brandies: Blackberry, Apple (Calvados), Cherry, Kirschwasser (a German variation on cherry brandy that is noticeably more sour) , Apricot and Cranberry Schnapps (technically many schnapps are forms of Brandy. However, the schnapps we bought were the American version which combines neutral spirit with fruit flavor). We mixed up mini-sidecars with the six different brandies above and voted on our favorite combinations (substituting the fruit brandy for the grape brandy in the recipe above) - our results are below!

Side-by-Sidecar lineup

Best Flavored Sidecar: Apricot Sidecar
The Apricot Sidecar looked very similar to a traditional brandy Sidecar, perhaps even a shade lighter. The apricot flavor was an excellent compliment for the lemon-citrus flavor. The aftertaste was pure apricot, no lingering harsh lemon flavor. It was most excellent, our favorite by far.

Worst Flavored Sidecar: Cherry Sidecar
The Cherry Sidecar came out a muddy red-brown color, and didn't much improve over its mediocre first impression. The drink smelled funny. I'm not even sure how to describe it, but it was weird. As for taste? It was way overly-sweet and ended up tasting mostly like cough syrup. The aftertaste was a strong cherry flavor that left a syrup-y feel. No thanks. I'll keep the cherry brandy on the shelf for making Singapore Slings, but that's about it.

Best/Worst of the Rest:
Second Place: Apple Sidecar - the Calvados sidecar did taste different from the Apple Cart (a good reminder that proportions matter when making drinks - measure carefully!), but it was not terribly different taste-wise from a traditional (grape) Brandy Sidecar. The apple taste was muted by the stronger concentration of lemon juice. This was the most tart of all the sidecars we mixed.

Third Place (*Barry Bonds* division): Cranberry Sidecar - since the Cranberry schnapps we had was the wimpy DeKuyper 15% ABV stuff that is more sugary flavored vodka than true brandy, we decided to add a 1/2 pour of (grape) brandy and a 1/2 pour of the cranberry schnapps to our trial drinks. Without the actual Brandy to bolster it, this drink was quite weak. But with the addition of actual brandy, we wound up with a nice drink. It was a vibrant purple that caught the eye, and the cranberry tart went well with the lemon. The aftertaste was quite lemon-y, however.

Fourth Place: Kirschwasser Sidecar - unlike the traditional cherry brandy sidecar, the Kirschwasser sidecar was not overly syrup-y or too sweet. It came out as a cloudy, mostly clear drink with a muted cherry flavor. It was a bit harsh at first, with strong lemon flavors, but the aftertaste was a pleasant cherry that muted the lemon and left you with an agreeable taste for a few minutes.

Fifth Place: Blackberry Sidecar - this was the opposite of the Kirschwasser Sidecar. It had a strong blackberry taste on the first sip, but the aftertaste was pure lemon. It was a fairly forgettable drink that came out a cloudy light purple/pink. Blackberry brandy can be put to much better uses, including in the Long Island Berry Iced Tea.

Thoughts? Have another option we should try? Think we were horribly wrong to dismiss the Cherry Sidecar? Let us know! And enjoy!

September Drink of the Month - The Saint Tropez

One of the best things about this summer in South Bend was the opportunity to take day trips all over southwest Michigan, visiting awesome little towns, wineries/breweries/distilleries and beaches. One of my favorite little SW Michigan towns is Sawyer, MI, home to the excellent Greenbush Breweries. Even if you are not a beer drinker (guilty), their BBQ beef brisket sandwiches are most excellent and worth the drive.  Last weekend, however, Ann and I decided to try something new and head to Greenbush's next door neighbor, a swanky little bistro called Fitzgerald's. I've often walked past Fitzgerald's, and I've always been intrigued by the rotating list of martinis they advertise in their windows, but this last weekend was the first time I had even been inside. We were both pleasantly surprised with our food (turns out their BBQ is pretty good as well), but the highlight of the trip was the chance to try out some new cocktails.

At least a quarter of Fitzgerald's cocktail menu featured St. Germain, a liqueur made from "elderflower" (otherwise know as the flower that blooms on elderberry plants). All terrible Monty Python jokes aside, St. Germain is a lovely base for many cocktails - it is both sweet and citrus-y and blends excellently with white wines. The classic St. Germain Cocktail is made with combination of champagne and sparkling water - the resulting cocktail has all the bubbly fun of champagne but heightened citrus and floral flavors that give it a unique taste. Fitzgerald's featured the St. Germain cocktail, but also a number of other creations. I tried something off the menu featuring St. Germain and bourbon that was fairly decent, but Ann hit the jackpot with a Saint Tropez.

As is sometimes the case with cocktails, there are several recipes floating around for the Saint Tropez, and they couldn't be any more different from each other. One popular recipe features Dubonnet (a French fortified wine) and orange juice. Another recipe turns the beverage into a alcohol-free passion fruit concoction. However, the Saint Tropez we enjoyed in Sawyer was completely different from these types of drinks. While the recipes listed above feature heavy flavors and are quite syrup-y, the St. Germain based Saint Tropez cocktail is extremely light and bubbly. The flavors are extremely light and muted, but compliment each other extremely well to make it an excellent picnic drink on a hot summer day. Here is the recipe we used for the Saint Tropez cocktails we made at home the next week:

In a cocktail shaker combine the following ingredients:

1 part Absolut Citron or similar lemon vodka

1 part Saint Germain

.25 part lemon juice

Shake over ice and strain into a Collins (high ball) glass filled with ice

Top with soda water and a lemon peel garnish (Fitzgerald's also added a strawberry)

The resulting cocktail should be mostly clear with a slight yellow/gold hint. This is a very "clean" tasting cocktail - the flavor notes are very subtle and this is not an extremely concentrated drink. If you feel like adding a little more flavor or variety to the drink, I suggest replacing the lemon vodka with cherry vodka or adding a few dashes of cherry bitters to your liquor mix before you shake/strain. The cherry flavor adds an extra note without overwhelming the elderflower and lemon.

Enjoy your Saint Tropez - and do it soon, there's only so many day of summer left to drink light cocktails like this! Soon we'll have to turn to heavy, cream-based cocktails to keep warm!