The sidecar is a classic cocktail recipe traditionally made with cognac, and often adapted for bourbon or other brown spirits such as applejack or brandy.
The Sidecar is refreshing, and on the sweeter side, so even though many new drinkers don't love the taste of brown spirits, this cocktail pulls you in gently.
I think about it like a whiskey Lemondrop. I love this cocktail because it requires very few ingredients and is a great starting point for adaptations, such as trying different Simple Goodness Sisters syrups instead of the traditional plain simple syrup or sugar.
We, and about 200,000 other people have been inspired by Mary Heffernan as an entrepreneur, woman and mother for a long time. Venise began following her on Instagram and like so many others, was captivated immediately by the story of serial-entrepreneur Mary, her husband, and their 4 daughters (all named Mary) who moved from Silicon Valley after owning and selling her first few businesses there, to fulfil their dreams of ranching in rural Northern California. Since that beginning, they've grown their ranch into one of the most successful, direct to consumer food businesses that Instagram & North America has ever seen. As folks trying in our own way to do something similar with Simple Goodness Sisters, that is create a high quality and high engagement, woman-led food brand that is equally as focused on how products are made as how they taste, we're really interested in learning from Five Mary's.
What captivates us as business people is the idea that she has reached this level of success by creating authentic connection between her and her buying community by sharing honestly and in detail the lifestyle and hardwork that bring Five Mary's Farm Raised beef and pork from their ranch to the customer's mailboxes. She allows people to feel a day in the life through her Instastories and posts and in turn, she finds dedicated customers who feel, albeit through technology, more closely connected with the food on their plates. By essentially creating their own sales pipeline and providing consumer education on American farming and ranching in a compelling way (that big time food advertisers would pay 1 billion dollars for but still never get right), they've also maintained control and distribution of their business entirely. This is crazy cool to us.
The Farm has grown in an organic but ambitious trajectory, with Mary still packing orders with a small team of friends and family each week from the farm store in nearby Fort Jones, CA. Yet, they continue to feed their dreams AND feed people's purchasing and engagement desires, through Glamping offerings on the farm, apparel and other soft goods, a small business workshop, a newly released Whiskey, and a restaurant and bar. Which brings us to where our fandom turned to partnership! After a few Intagram conversations back and forth (yes we dropped into her DM's, as the kids say) Mary reached out and asked to sample Simple Goodness Sisters simple syrups for use at their bar in cocktails and mocktails.
While her husband enjoys a sunset Coors Light on their evening feeding drives (just like my own Mr. Kelly), Mary is a brown drinker after my own heart. Mary loves the Bourbon Sidecar, a classic and delicious bourbon cocktail that totally appeals to me as well. If you like whiskey AT ALL or if you're a new to whiskey, curious toes dipping in the holy water kind of brown spirit drinker, you need to try this cocktail!
Mary's Simple Goodness Bourbon Sidecar
Why to make it: a good entry for newcomer's to brown liquor cocktails, the sidecar is from the sour category so the liquor is not too pronounced, and it can easily be made sweeter with the addition of more syrup. It's a short, quick happy hour or pre-dinner drink, not meant to be lingered over, but to set a tone.
glass: coupe, martini glass
Ingredients:
- 2 ounces bourbon
- 1/2 ounce Cointreau orange liqueur
- 1 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce Simple Goodness Sisters Lemon Herb Syrup, or try any of our syrup flavors- we also really love it with Berry Sage and Rhubarb Vanilla
- fresh herb leaf for garnish- thyme sprig or sage
- Floral Sugar Rim
Glass: coupe or martini glass
Pour a small amount of floral sugar onto a shallow dish. Combine the lemon juice, bourbon, cointreau and Simple Goodness Sisters syrup in a shaker of ice, shake for 60 seconds or until the outside of the shaker is chilled and the ingredients within are extremely cold and a little bit foamy. Using the bit of lemon that you just squeezed, run the lemon over the rim of the glass soa bit of juice clings to the rim. This will hold the sugar rim. Now gently dip the glass rim in the floral sugar, turning as you go, until the entire rim has a bit of sugar. Strain the cocktail into the rimmed glass. Garnish with fresh herb to match the syrup flavor you used.
Mary's Lemon-Herb Sidecar Mocktail
Why to make it: while the sidecar is an alcohol forward drink, mainly comprised of liquor, the essences of the drink can be distilled into a good back porch sipping tea, that while not completely similar in taste, evokes a similar mood.
Makes 1 cocktail
- 2 ounces brewed and chilled chamomile tea
- 1/2 ounce fresh orange juice
- 2 dashes orange or citrus bitters
- 1 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 3/4 ounce lemon herb syrup
- fresh herb leaf for garnish- thyme sprig or sage
Combine the juice, tea and syrup in a shaker of ice, shake for 60 seconds or until the outside of the shaker is chilled and the ingredients within are extremely cold and a little bit foamy. Strain into a coupe or martini glass. Add two drops of bitters, stir. Garnish.
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