Well, we find ourselves in interesting times.

Interesting, indeed.

I don’t know about you, but when the history books write about us hoarding toilet paper and social distancing, I’m gonna be like, “Yeah. Well, check my blog. I drank. And I drank some good stuff.”

Ok, maybe that’s a bit extreme. I literally made one cocktail a night. It was good. And that was all. Sometimes I shared with my husband. Sometimes.

And truth be told, I started this on my first night of “social distancing”. OMG – my predictive text fills in “social distancing” now. That’s messed up. Anyway… the evening of March 16, 2020 was the first night of my classic cocktail making. I figured, I have the booze, I have the time, and I have the internet. It’s the only responsible thing to do. I’ll add in all of those days later, but right now, it’s day 8.

And Day 8 is The Sidecar.

If you don’t like citrus, this is NOT for you. Lemon juice and Cointreau put this drink solidly in the citrus category.

I’ve read many variations on this recipe. It calls for congac or brandy. If you don’t have that, then bourbon. Apparently brown liquor is in the ingredient list.

I used bourbon because I don’t have brandy. And I can’t say I recommend doing that. I firmly believe that if you don’t know what you’re doing, you should stick strictly to the instructions. HOWEVER, these are interesting times, and that trumps (and I VERY much hesitate to use that word, but it’s what the English language affords me) having the perfect ingredients. We use what we have, so bourbon (my fav) it is. But I do fear I’ve adulterated my bourbon, and the recipe. So unfortunate.

Ingredients: 1 1/2 oz congac (or brandy) (or bourbon), 3/4 oz Cointreau, 3/4 oz lemon juice, ice, lemon peel

Pour all liquid ingredients and ice into cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously. Strain into cocktail glass. Twist lemon peel over top of glass and place in glass.

That said, it’s a fun little cocktail. I’d love to don a “fit n’ flair“ fruit printed cocktail dress and have all my friends over and serve them sidecars from a perfectly shaped glass from my sideboard. Maybe when these interesting times are a memory.

I’ll be sharing Classic Cocktails days 1-7 as the spirit(s) move(s) me. People, there’s a lot going on from day to day. I have children e-learning, a doggo that suddenly thinks we’re here for her undivided attention, laundry piling up, stresses I didn’t know existed mounting. There’s a lot to process. I’m sure you more than understand. You, as they say, “get it”. Stay sane and well, my people.