The colder seasons are upon us, which means it’s time to roll out the holiday and seasonal cocktails! Which for me means taking all of my normal summer cocktails and throwing a holiday spice twist on them. This bad boy is just a normal sidecar with the addition of some apple cider, custom homemade orange liqueur, and a solid cinnamon sugar brûlée’d apple slice.
What’s A Sidecar?
A sidecar is a cocktail from the sour family that’s traditionally made without the use of a syrup, utilizing orange liqueur as a substitute. As a result, most recipes call for a lessening of the citrus to counteract the difference in sweetness. The base spirit of a sidecar is brandy, so if you’re using our orange liqueur recipe, it’ll pair REALLY well.
How To Make A Holiday Sidecar
The construction here is pretty similar to a normal sidecar, with the addition of apple cider, and an increase in the lemon juice to adjust for added liquid/sweetener. This makes sure our cocktail stays in balance. We’re also going to shake it a little less to make sure we don’t over-water our cocktail. With the added apple cider, we’re not going to run into as many dilution issues as we would with a cocktail with a higher ratio of alcohol. The special part of this sidecar, other than the cider, is that dope-ass garnish. Which was really freakin easy to make. I literally lopped of the side of an apple, dipped it in some cinnamon sugar, and took my brûlée torch to it til it looked tasty as shit. Then once the cocktail is done, just float that sucker on top.
Holiday Sidecar Recipe
- 1.5oz Brandy
- 1oz homemade orange liqueur OR Grand Marnier (mine is cheaper to make by volume….)
- 1oz lemon juice
- 1oz apple cider (I keep powdered on hand and make a double strength recipe. It’s easier and lasts forever.
Toss it all in a shaker, fill 3/4 with ice and shake for about 5 seconds, until you feel the coldness seep to the outside of the shaker. Don’t overshake or your drink will taste watery. Pour into a coupe glass and garnish with a brûlée’d apple slice.
Other Holiday Cocktails
- Christmas Margarita – a seasonal riff on the classic margarita featuring cranberry, apple and cinnamon.
- Cinnamon Cranberry Gin Sour – a cranberry and spice sour!
- Spiced Old Fashioned – a seasonally spiced old fashioned!
- Christmas Tequila Cocktail – a creamy cranberry tequila cocktail perfect for parties!
- Christmas Mai Tai – a very tiki Christmas cocktail
- Christmas Gin Highball – a deliciously spiced gin highball!
- Holiday Gin And Tonic – A holiday riff on an old classic!