Full Moon Festival - Gonar's Drink of the Month!

The season for making one of my favorite cocktails is upon us, as the warm front in northern Iowa pushes its ninety-degree bliss up towards Aquaburg, we are inspired to prepare for the hot weather by making something crisp and refreshing, citrusy but not too sweet, and seeing as we're not into the full swing of summer yet, it has to have enough punch to send you home riding shotgun. And this month, we're all going drinking with our grandparents.

A descendant of the Brandy Daisy, and cousin of the famous Margarita, the Sidecar was invented around 1920, shortly after The Great War. (Man, that war was great, I really miss it!) When you have one, remember that this could very well be the same drink that got your grandparents drunk enough to conceive your parents, or got your great-grandparents drunk enough, I don't know, you do the math. The point is, without this lovely blend of brandy, triple-sec and lemon juice, you very well may not exist. So raise a toast to ancestral fertility and long-forgotten horniness, slam down a sidecar or two or three or five, and chase your favorite member of the opposite sex into the sack!

This drink is made very much like a martini but with the above ingredients. Get yourself a bottle of brandy, a bottle of triple-sec, some lemon juice, a martini shaker, and a decent shot glass. I use my graduated shot glass for this drink; it graduated from the Engineering College at Iowa State University and makes very precise measurements. I am, shall we say, between martini glasses right now so I use a tumbler, but a martini glass is preferable. Put some ice in that martini shaker, pour in 1&1/2 shots of brandy, 1 shot of triple sec, and about 1/4 shot of lemon juice. Shake it up, and pour it into that glass of yours. A lot of bartenders put sugar in the rim first, which is a little effeminate even for my androgenous self, but I usually get the sugar anyway. The ratio of brandy to triple sec can also vary tremendously, anywhere from 1:1 to 4:1. Of course, the more triple sec the sweeter it will taste. Mine are 3:2.

Here are some variations -
- Use Cognac instead of regular brandy, Courvoisier if you're either rich and British, or down with the homies.
- Cointreau? In fact, a lot of purists insist it can only be made with this high-end orange liqour instead of regular triple-sec.
- Add a little splash of Grand Marnier!
- Use lime juice instead of lemon juice!

Based on these ideas alone, there are 16 combinations before you even mess with the brandy/orange liquor ratio. Wow! Try them all!

See you next month,

Gonar, Gatekeeper of the Outer Galaxy