Between the Sheets

This one is the true ancestor of all the Silk Panties, Slippery Nipples, Screaming Orgasms and any other of the newfangled concoctions with lascivious monikers that so titillate the cocktail hour set. The Between the Sheets is generally accepted to have been created in the 1920s  — yet another Prohibition creation —  by Harry MacElhone of Harry’s New York Bar in Paris. This  great cocktails hotspot was responsible for timeless classics like the French 75, The Three Miller and Corpse Reviver No. 2, not to mention the intriguing Monkey Gland which we will have to get to someday. So Harry’s is definitely a plausible origin point.

However, competing theories exist. Some that claim the cocktail was created at The Berkeley in approximately 1921, and others, sticking with the titillating theme, insist it was a staple in French brothels as an apéritif for consumption by the prostitutes to relax and set the mood before their shifts.

But regardless of its origins, this cocktail, derived from Sidecar, is one of the true classics.

Ingredients

  • 1 oz Cognac
  • 1 oz Triple sec
  • 1 oz Light rum
  • 1⁄4 oz fresh lemon juice
  • garnish with lemon twist

Add ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake vigorously for 10 seconds or so then strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Flame an orange peel over the glass and discard before serving.

The verdict: I liked it. It wasn’t a universally “loved” drink but garnered approval around the table. We chose to cut the ingredients back to 3/4 of an ounce to take a little of the punch out of it. Like so many of these old classics it really doesn’t have much in common with the modern “apple-tini” you find on so many cocktail menus. But to me, it holds it’s own among the list of great classics.

 

 

 

 

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