Biggles' Sidecar (Difford's Guide Recipe)

Biggles is a postwar kids book series about an intrepid British aviator. Naturally, Simon Difford has his own recipe for a Biggles Aviation. But he went a step farther in creating a Biggles Sidecar--I guess Biggles was known for motoring and espionage, so that seems about right.

The thing that makes this Sidecar different is ginger: ginger in the brandy and ginger as a garnish. Kings ginger liqueur is the brand that Difford recommends because it is that rich aged brandy that will stand out in a citrus cocktail. I made my own ginger brandy using Korbel and fresh ginger, but if all you have is Domaine de Canton, that should do. I think that the fresh slice of ginger is really important to the garnish experience. From a distance, it looks like another slice of citrus, but the scent with the lemon is perfect.

• 1 2/3 oz. cognac (Martel single distillery)
• 1/2 oz. ginger brandy
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1/4 oz. sugar syrup
• 1 dash Peychauds bitters
• lemon slice and ginger slice garnish

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with ginger and lemon slices.

 

Napoleon Sidecar

 

If you are just flipping through your bar book, this recipe will strike you immediately as grand for a variation on a Sidecar. That is not to say that it isn't, but subbing in a liqueur called Mandarine Napoleon for orange flavored brandy sounds like an imperial move. 

I've read somewhere that after you have finished your Cointreau and are done with triple secs in general, the next bottle of orange liqueur you need to get is Mandarine Napoleon. It's just that I can't get it where I live. So I knocked it off with cognac, lots of mandarin orange juice and peels, sugar and a whiff of cardamon seeds. I don't recommend this approach, but it is lovely and, while it took a month of steeping, was almost worth the wait. 

I think what greatly helped this cocktail was the use of Martel single distillery cognac. I'm so happy to have found a good deal on this cognac, a littler wilder tasting than ultra smooth blends but a no-brainer buy when lesser quality brandies often cost more.

I found this recipe on Difford's guide 

• 1 1/2 oz. cognac (Martel VS single distillery used)
• 1 oz. Mandarine Napoleon (homemade used)
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• lemon slice

Coat the rim of a cocktail glass with sugar by rubbing it with a lemon slice and dipping it into a saucer covered with sugar. (Do this ahead of time so you can chill it.) Combine spirits, sugar syrup and lemon juice in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into the cocktail glass. Garnish with the lemon slice.

Red Rover

There's something cosmopolitan (small "c" cosmopolitan) about then name Red Rover. As with all kids games and playground rhymes, we can all identify with the sensory details of those early life moments where we had fun with friends. 

As an adult, I appreciate this cocktail with its fun, juvenile flavor of sloe gin (which tastes like an Icee) and the color of the drink, which looks exactly like Clifford's red coat. Interestingly, the Red Rover game is called Ali Baba in Russia, where you'd think the word "red" would make an appearance. 

Anyway, if you like a Bourbon Sidecar with a peach slice and a brilliant red hue, this one is for you.

• 1 1/2 oz. bourbon
• 1/2 oz. sloe gin
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. sugar syrup
• lemon slice
• peach slice

Combine liquid ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with fruit slices. 

 

 

 

Chelsea Sidecar

A drink named after the posh London neighborhood of Chelsea requires a posh London gin. Boodles is the much-asked-for classic dry gin from London. You won't see it in the U.S. that much, and much less now that American gin is all the rage. But there is something to be said of an old standard. And while the Gin Sidecar is slowly giving way to it original brandy forebears, a Boodles Sidecar is still smashing, baby.

• 2 oz. gin (Boodles used)
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Gin Sidecar

This is the gin version of the brandy drink that's all the rage right now. And it is being served up, as it should be. The Gin Sidecar is more relaxed, shaken but served on the rocks. A good gin and triple sec will really improve your experience with this cocktail since there's no added sugar. Triplum or Cointreau will keep things strong on alcohol and preserve a fresh citrus flavor that the drink should properly give off all around.

• 2 oz. gin 
• 1 oz. triple sec (Triplum used)
• 1 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into an Old Fashioned glass full of fresh ice. 

Boston Sidecar

A Sidecar is a brandy or cognac up drink that's flavored with lemon juice and sugar. The Boston version simply replaces some of the cognac with white rum. This is done for the same reason that the Boston Cooler is a rum cocktail--Boston must have been a rum capital of the new world. It is a little lighter and more appropriate for warm-weather drinking than the original Sidecar. Interestingly, there's no sugar added except for the triple sec, so it is very tart and cooling.

• 1 1/2 oz. white rum
• 1/2 oz. brandy or cognac
• 1/2 oz. triple sec
• 1/2 oz. lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.