Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

This sidecar drink recipe has only 3 ingredients (so get yourself some good tequila!)

Great tequila always matters

By

Avion
Avion

There are many classic cocktails drinkers seem to gravitate toward. We’re talking about the Manhattan, old fashioned, margarita, and even the daiquiri. But others sometimes don’t get the respect they deserve. The sidecar is one of those drinks. Simply put, the classic drink consists of only three ingredients: cognac, orange liqueur, and lemon juice. It’s simple, elegant, and extremely easy to make. It’s the kind of drink you learn and you make often for your friends and family. It’s a flavorful, complex, citrus-driven mixed drink that absolutely should be on more cocktail menus.

Recommended Videos

The history of the sidecar

While its true genesis is shrouded in mystery (like most classic cocktails), cocktail writer David A. Embury wrote in his 1948 book Fine Art of Mixing Drinks that it was first created during World War I at a bar in Paris. He said that a friend of his invented it and named it after the motorcycle sidecar that he rode in.

Related

Many believe that iconic bartender Harry MacElhone was the friend who created the drink at Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. He even published a recipe for the drink in his cocktail book, which was written in 1919. That’s not the only story about the sidecar’s creation, though. An American bartender named Frank Meier claimed to have invented the drink in the same time period at the Ritz Hotel, also in Paris.

Regardless of who invented this classic drink, it’s been around for more than one hundred years and remains just as nuanced, warming, and flavorful as it was a century ago. There’s a reason that even though it’s not on the top of the list, it’s still listed among the most classic cocktails ever conceived. But, with over one hundred years of history, isn’t it time to try something different and breathe a new life into this classic cocktail?

The folks at Avion Tequila think so. That’s why they came up with a tequila-based sidecar called the Extra Añejo Side Car. As you might have guessed, the drink swaps out the cognac for extra añejo tequila. Yes, you read that right: tequila. While cognac is known for its fruity, vanilla, and toffee flavors that pair well with the ingredients, tequila, with its vegetal sweetness, herbaceous notes, oak, spices, and barrel complexity, brings the drink to a whole new level.

For those who don’t know, the tequila used in this drink, Avión Reserva 44 extra añejo tequila, isn’t your average, sweet agave mixing tequila. It’s been aged for at least 36 months in oak barrels. This imparts whiskey-like aromas and flavors of caramel, vanilla, roasted agave, spices, and dried fruits. It’s the perfect complement to the orange liqueur and fresh-squeezed lemon juice in this drink. Keep reading below to see an updated sidecar drink recipe.

Avion
Avion

Extra Añejo Side Car

Ingredients:
1 1/3 OZ / 1 1/3 PARTS Avión Reserva 44
2/3 OZ / 2/3 PARTS Orange Liqueur
2/3 OZ / 2/3 PARTS Fresh Lemon Juice

Preparation:

Add all ingredients to a shaker filled with ice, shake to chill, and double strain into a chilled coupette glass. We recommend that you don’t rim the glass with sugar, but it’s optional.

Editors’ Recommendations

Topics
Christopher Osburn
Christopher Osburn
Writer
Christopher Osburn is a food and drinks writer located in the Finger Lakes Region of New York. He's been writing professional
Aperol and tequila: The perfect fall-friendly drink combination
Need to transition your tequila drinks into the fall season? Look no further than Aperol
Aperol spritz

As the warmth of summer has faded into the cooler weather, as it always does, many people think the changing of the seasons means fewer frozen margaritas. And while that might be true, just because it's not frozen drink weather, it doesn't mean you have to give up tequila. The agave spirit can transition into fall seamlessly with the bittersweet touch of Aperol, among a few other things.

First, a bit of history. Aperol is more than a century old, a famously red-orange bitter apéritif born in northern Italy. It's a lighter cousin of Campari, both in terms of hue and alcoholic heat. Mostly, it's incorporated into a spritz. Yet, Aperol works wonders when it's combined with tequila, especially as you look to add a little more depth and weight to your drinks as autumn arrives.

Read more
Bourbon isn’t only for drinking — try it in these barbecue recipes as well
A set of bourbon recipes from barbecue expert Steven Raichlen
Bib & Tucker Small Batch Bourbon

Today is the start of National Bourbon Heritage Month, marked in the U.S. every September since 2007 to celebrate the quintessential American spirit and its traditions and history. While there's plenty of resources for learning about bourbon and drinking it, it doesn't only have to be used in your glass.

With the Labor Day weekend, lots of people are taking the opportunity to do some barbecuing for perhaps the last time this summer. Barbecue expert and TV show Steven Raichlen has teamed up with Bib & Tucker Small Batch Bourbon to come up with a series of recipes featuring bourbon.
Bacon-Grilled Peaches with Double Char Glaze

Read more
The best fall sangria recipes: Get into the spirit with this boozy autumn drink
How to make the best fall sangria cocktails
Autumn harvest fall sangria

There's something about a festive drink that matches the mood to get you into the spirit of whatever you happen to be celebrating. A frosty margarita just makes you want to throw on a swimsuit and hit the pool. A flute of bubbly champagne often invokes our inner Gatsby as we raise toasts in our finest cocktail wear. A cold beer is appropriate on many occasions, but especially at a baseball game, with a piping hot, mustard-slathered hot dog in the other hand.

And this fall sangria, complete with autumnal fruits and flavors, will put you into the most festive of pumpkin-picking moods. So, as the weather starts to cool and stores are flooded with everything orange, mix yourself a batch of these delicious fall cocktails. You can consider it a reward for all the hard work of raking those leaves.

Read more