My best friend and I have a standing once-a-week date. Being the Betty Crocker type, I make dinner, we drink, we talk and we watch a movie, during which I inevitably fall asleep. While awaiting said friend’s arrival last time around, and finding myself out of beer, I fell to a classic stand-by. Only three ingredients—all of which are always on hand—and requiring only a few quick twists of the wrist for fresh juice, the Sidecar is always a favorite.

Now, before I continue, I know someone is going to say something about the recipe below. If you walk into a bar and order a Sidecar, you will very likely receive a drink much sweeter than what I’ve described, because it will be mixed with orange juice instead of lemon, and your glass will probably be rimmed with sugar. That isn’t how I make them, so don’t bother complaining. See below for further discussion.

1 oz brandy
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz lemon juice

Shake over ice and strain into a cocktail glass.

Personally, I have no objection to mixing the drink with some OJ when I’m in a sweet mood (this time around I mixed with 3/4 lemon and 1/4 clementine juice), but the traditional recipe calls for lemon. If I feel frisky, I’ll juice some Meyer lemons because they have an excellent sweet-sour balance.

As for rimming the glass with sugar, sure it looks neat. It’s also gritty, falls into the drink in cloudy, sugary clumps, destroys the flavor balance and makes your teeth feel like they’re wearing an angora sweater. If you really don’t like the sourness, skip the sugared rim, reduce the lemon juice slightly and up the brandy and Cointreau.