The Sidecar has long been associated with the early 20th-century expatriate scene in Europe, during the years Prohibition was in effect in the United States. The drink is frequently mentioned in connection to Harry’s Bar in Paris, whose owner, Harry McElhone, included it in his 1922 book Harry’s ABC of Mixing Cocktails. Early recipes called for equal proportions of Cognac, lemon juice and orange liqueur, typically Cointreau.
Today’s bartenders, however, almost never go for the 1:1:1 recipes. Or, as Johnson put it: “Fuck, no!” Instead, a heftier measurement of brandy is used, typically 1 ½ ounces to 2 ounces. It is usually paired with ¾ ounce lemon juice and ¾ to 1 once of orange liqueur. The sugar rim, meanwhile, was not part of the early recipes.
It’s an accouterment that the cocktail picked up at some point and has never been able to shake. (A widely printed 1980 AP article asserted that the sugar rim was an American innovation. According to the French bartender Fernando Castellon, who has made a study of the Sidecar, the earliest mention of a sugar rim comes in the 1932 American cocktail book Wet Drinks for Dry People.)
