The Sidecar, one of the most famous cognac-based drinks, was invented in Paris during World War 1 and was named after a well-known Army Officer who used to travel to and from the bar in which the drink was created in a motorcycle sidecar.

The standard recipe for the Sidecar consists of 45ml of cognac, 20ml of cointreau (orange flavoured liqueur) and 20ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice.

The Sidecar belongs to the ‘Sour’ family of mixed drinks (eg Whisky Sour) however sour doesn’t necessarily describe the drink’s taste as it is a balance of sour (fresh lemon juice) and sweet (in this case cointreau) flavours. The secret is to find your own preferred balance of ingredients, depending on your personal taste, which you can describe to any of our bartenders.

For the Koh Sidecar No.2 we use equal parts (30ml) of cognac, cointreau and sour. We personalise the drink by infusing our cognac with vanilla pods and by using fresh lime juice instead of lemon juice. The ingredients are shaken with ice and strained into a chilled martini glass. We coat the rim of the glass with brown sugar and then garnish the drink with flamed orange zest. By doing all this we are adding depth and subtle layers to our Sidecar No.2

Josko Babic