Between The Sheets (David Wondrich recipe)
Shake ∙ 3 min ∙ 28.6% ABV ∙
A Between the Sheets is a shaken brandy sour built with orange liqueur and Bénédictine, brightened with lemon, in the same family as the Sidecar. Warm brandy and honeyed Bénédictine spice lead, orange liqueur rounds the middle, and a clean lemon snap dries out the finish — a strong after-dinner pour.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Shake all ingredients with ice: Brandy 30 mlBénédictine D.O.M. liqueur 15 mlTriple sec 15 mlLemon juice 10 ml
- Fine strain into the chilled glass
- Express flamed an orange twist over the cocktail, then use as garnish
Tips
- Shake hard with cubed ice for a full 12-15 seconds; the Bénédictine's sugar and herbal weight need vigorous agitation to integrate and chill properly.
- Measure the lemon juice precisely at 10 ml since this small amount of acid is what balances the higher sugar load from Bénédictine and triple sec.
- Double-strain into a chilled coupe to remove any ice shards, since the low total volume shows fine ice chips more than a taller drink would.
- Express an orange twist directly over the surface before dropping it in, releasing citrus oils that echo the brandy and triple sec without adding extra liquid.
History
Between the Sheets is a classic riff on the Sidecar, blending brandy with a second spirit, orange liqueur, and lemon juice. Its origin is disputed: it is most often credited to Harry MacElhone of Harry's New York Bar in Paris in the 1930s, though other accounts date a similar drink to about 1921 at London's Berkeley Hotel, credited to a manager known as Mr. Polly, and still others trace a bawdier legend to French brothels, where it is said to have served as an apéritif for the working women, giving rise to the suggestive name. Early print versions varied: the cocktail's first known appearance in print used gin rather than brandy, in Frank Shay's 1929 Drawn from the Wood, and Prohibition-era American bartender Johnny Brooks later claimed to have created it himself at a speakeasy in New Rochelle, New York. Over time the brandy-and-white-rum version, sweetened with triple sec and lemon juice, became the standard build. This variation, associated with cocktail historian David Wondrich, replaces the rum with Bénédictine, giving the drink a more herbal, honeyed edge in place of the classic's rum note.
FAQ
How do you make a Between the Sheets (David Wondrich recipe) cocktail?
Shake brandy, Bénédictine, triple sec, and fresh lemon juice hard with ice, then fine-strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with an orange twist. It is a quick build with no infusing or muddling; the whole drink comes together in one shake.
What alcohol is in a Between the Sheets?
Brandy is the base spirit, joined by two liqueurs: Bénédictine, an herbal honeyed liqueur, and triple sec, an orange liqueur. Together with fresh lemon juice this makes a shaken sour with about 28.6% ABV, so it drinks stronger than most citrus-forward cocktails.
What glass is a Between the Sheets served in?
A coupe glass, served up with no ice, garnished with an orange twist. Fine-straining keeps the drink clear and chilled without any dilution from ice sitting in the glass.
How is a Between the Sheets different from a Sidecar?
A Sidecar is brandy, orange liqueur, and lemon juice; this Between the Sheets adds a fourth ingredient, Bénédictine, whose honeyed herbal weight gives it a spiced depth the Sidecar does not have.
