Name: Spiced sidecar
Total time: 5 min
Yield: Serves 1
Ingredients: 2 tbsp caster sugar; 50ml spiced cognac or cognac, (see below); 25ml Cointreau; 25ml lemon juice, plus a lemon wedge for the glass; 4 cardamom pods, bruised; 1 cinnamon stick; 1 star anise; 2 small slices ginger; 200ml cognac

Sidecar cocktail in a coupe glass with a bottle of red liquid behind

2 tbsp caster sugar
50ml spiced cognac or cognac
(see below)
25ml Cointreau
25ml lemon juice
plus a lemon wedge for the glass

SPICED COGNAC

4 cardamom pods
bruised
1 cinnamon stick
1 star anise
2 small slices ginger
200ml cognac

Method

step 1
To make the spiced cognac, put all of the spices and the ginger in the cognac and leave to infuse for 30-45 minutes, tasting after 30 minutes. Leave for longer if you’d like an extra spicy flavour. This will make enough for four drinks, but if you’d like to infuse a whole bottle (around 70cl), then triple the quantities.
step 2
To make the sidecar, put the caster sugar on a saucer and rub a lemon wedge round the rim of a small coupe glass. Dip the glass rim into the sugar, like you would a margarita glass with salt. Put the rest of the cocktail ingredients in a cocktail shaker, fill with ice and shake well before straining into the frosted coupe glass.