How to Make the Ultimate Cider Sidecar Cocktail

This recipe takes the traditional sidecar combination of cognac, Cointreau, and lemon and adds one of the South’s favorite nonalcoholic beverages to the mix. Apple cider just turned into a grown-up treat.

March 22, 2025

By Belinda Smith-Sullivan

City Style and Living Magazine Spring 2025 Cider Sidecar cocktail — / Courtesy Lauren McDuffie (Gibbs Smith)

Serves 1
Glass: champagne coupe

INGREDIENTS
2 ounces fresh apple cider

2 ounces cognac

1 ounce Cointreau

1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice

Lemon twists, for rimming and garnish

Granulated sugar, for rimming

Apple wheels (optional)

METHOD
Pour the cider, cognac, Cointreau, and lemon juice into a shaker, and top with ice. Shake until very chilled. Rub the rim of the glass with a piece of lemon zest, then dip the rim of the glass into the sugar. Strain the cocktail into the coupe and garnish with lemon twist and apple wheels (if using).

Recipe excerpted from Cocktails, Southern Style: Pours, Drinks, Sips, and Bites by Belinda Smith-Sullivan. Photographs by Lauren McDuffie. Reprinted by permission of Gibbs Smith Books.

This original article first appeared in the SPRING 2025 issue of City Style and Living Magazine.