Between The Sheets
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 27.5% ABV ∙
The Between the Sheets is a shaken sour that splits its base evenly between white rum, Cognac, and triple sec, cut with fresh lemon. Bright citrus hits first, then the rum and Cognac warm the middle before a clean, orange-tinged finish — a bracing after-dinner pour.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: White rum 25 mlCognac 25 mlTriple sec 25 mlLemon juice 10 mlSugar syrup 5 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express a lemon twist over the cocktail and use as garnish
Tips
- Shake hard with full-size cubes for a full 12-15 seconds; the near-equal rum, cognac and triple sec need vigorous dilution to soften the boozy edge.
- Double strain into the chilled coupe to remove ice shards, since the fine, low-viscosity mix shows any cloudiness or splinters immediately.
- Measure the lemon juice and sugar syrup precisely at 10 ml and 5 ml — they are the only things balancing three equal 25 ml pours of spirit, so a heavy hand on either shows immediately.
- Express a fresh lemon twist directly over the surface just before serving to lay aromatic oils on top rather than twisting it in early.
History
Between the Sheets belongs to the same family of split-base sours as the Sidecar, and its documented origin is disputed among a few competing accounts. The most repeated version credits Scottish-born bartender Harry MacElhone, owner of Harry's New York Bar in Paris, with creating it in the 1930s as a rum-added twist on the Sidecar. A rival account places its invention nearly a decade earlier, around 1921, at London's Berkeley Hotel, credited to a manager known as Mr. Polly. A third, less-substantiated story claims the drink originated in French brothels as a pre-shift drink for sex workers, which some link to its suggestive name, though this is the least documented of the theories. In print, the earliest known appearance is in Frank Shay's 1929 book Drawn from the Wood, though that version was made with gin rather than cognac and rum. By the 1930s, recipes using cognac, white rum, and triple sec, close to the version popularized at Harry's New York Bar, had become the standard, gaining wider circulation through Harry Craddock's 1930 Savoy Cocktail Book.
FAQ
What is in a Between the Sheets cocktail?
White rum, Cognac, and triple sec in equal measure, sharpened with fresh lemon juice and a touch of sugar syrup, shaken and served up. This build also carries a couple of dashes of saline solution to round out the citrus.
What alcohol is in Between the Sheets?
Three spirits: white rum, Cognac, and triple sec, an orange liqueur, all in equal parts. That three-spirit base is what gives the drink its 27.5% ABV, making it noticeably stronger than a typical citrus sour.
Is the Between the Sheets a strong drink?
Yes, at around 27.5% ABV it is a strong cocktail, well above most shaken sours. The strength comes from stacking three full-proof spirits — rum, Cognac, and triple sec — rather than relying on a single base spirit cut with citrus.
How do you make Between the Sheets?
Shake white rum, Cognac, triple sec, fresh lemon juice, and sugar syrup hard with ice, then fine-strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with a lemon twist. The shake is essential here — it aerates and chills the three-spirit base and folds in the citrus before straining leaves the glass clear.
What glass is Between the Sheets served in?
A coupe glass, served up with no ice, finished with an expressed lemon twist.
