This cocktail is a short drink (a short cocktail, served without ice in the glass). It's a variation of the Sidecar, and therefore classified as a Sour (spirit base + citrus + sweet element). It can be enjoyed as an aperitif or as a late-night cocktail. Be careful, it's quite treacherous, its acidity and sweetness masking its power!
It is one of the official cocktails of the IBA (International Bartenders Association).
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Classic recipePour 3 cl of Cognac, 3 cl of white rum, 3 cl of Triple Sec (Cointreau) and 2 cl of lemon juice into a shaker with ice. Serve in a chilled Martini glass. |
The Between the Sheets cocktail has a rather intriguing history, straddling myth and fact, like many classic recipes. The most common version places its creation at Harry's New York Bar in Paris in the 1930s, probably by Harry MacElhone, a famous Scottish bartender living in France.
The Between the Sheets is very similar to the Sidecar cocktail (cognac, triple sec, lemon), but with the addition of white rum. Some believe that MacElhone simply wanted to "thin out" the Sidecar with rum for a sweeter, more exotic taste.
Other, more juicy accounts describe it as a "late-night" cocktail served in Parisian bars or brothels at the time, meant to "warm up before going... between the sheets"—hence its evocative name.
