Again, this is one of those cocktails who’s origins are covered in smoke, not entirely clear who was the first ever to create this drink. However, it was created at the end of WWI, in either London or Paris. In Paris, it is said that Harry macElhone created the drink in his famous Harry’s New York bar. A great drinks-author called David A. Embury writes in his book “Fine Art of Mixing Drinks” (1948): “It was invented by a friend of mine at a bar in Paris during World War I and was named after the motorcycle sidecar in which the good captain customarily was driven to and from the little bistro where the drink was born and christened”. This little bistro he calls for is assumed to be Harry’s New York Bar, but the owner of this bar, Harry MacElhone, credits someone else for inventing the cocktail in his own book: Pat MacGarry of Buck’s Club in London.
There are also several ways in which the drink was said to be prepared, and I’d suggest to try them so you can find your personal favourite. The French way of mixing the drink is 3 equal parts of Brandy, Triple Sec and fresh lemonjuice. The English way is 2 parts Brandy, 1 part Triple Sec and 1 part fresh lemonjuice. But of course your own taste matters most, so adjust it a little as you go.
Method:
Squeeze the fresh lemon juice (15 ml/0.5 oz) in your mixing glass and add 15 ml/0.5 oz Triple Sec (I use Cointreau) and 30 ml/1 oz Brandy (I use Cognac). Now you prepare the glass: take one squeezed half lemon and rim the top 1 inch/2 cm of your cocktailglass with the juice. After this you coat the outside with fine white sugar. By doing this, you add a little sugar with each sip, balancing the drink. You can also add 1 teaspoon fine white sugar in the drink and shake it along – this way you don’t need to sugarcoat the glass.
Now you shake all ingredients with lots of ice and strain this into the cocktailglass. No garnish is needed here.