Looking for a new cocktail? After a long day, nothing quite hits the spot like this Greek Sidecar Cocktail!

We love the idea of an old fashioned cocktail. One of the most classic cocktails is the Sidecar, a cocktail traditionally made with cognac, orange liqueur, and lemon juice. We thought we would take this classic and “Greek it up” a bit by adding Metaxa, resulting in the Greek Sidecar Cocktail.

Although Metaxa was originally compared to a Cognac and subsequently to a brandy, it is actually not classified as either of these spirits. Brandy, by definition, does not include wine. Metaxa has the presence of very fine muscat wines from Samos, an island in the north east Aegean, and Mediterranean botanicals. As such, Metaxa is a spirit in a category of its own.

Making this cocktail is so easy! Simply add all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice, shake well and then strain into a chilled, sugar rimmed old fashioned or low-ball glass.

To Your Health! Or, as we say in Greek, Stin Ygeia Sou!

HOW TO MAKE A GREEK SIDECAR COCKTAIL

Peel lemon for garnish (refer to Questions below if you want directions on how to peel lemon garnish). Squeeze 2 oz of fresh lemon juice.
Add granulated sugar to a small plate. Dip the rim of your glass into some lemon juice and then dip glass into the sugar.
Grab your Metaxa.
Measure and pour the Metaxa (we used 5-Star Metaxa), orange liqueur (we use Cointreau) and fresh squeezed lemon juice into an ice filled cocktail shaker. Shake well for 30 seconds.
Strain into your sugar rimmed old fashioned glass or low-ball glass, add a twist of lemon and enjoy!

HOW DO I MAKE A LEMON PEEL GARNISH?

We referenced bon appetit to learn how to make a lemon peel garnish here.

WHAT TYPE OF METAXA SHOULD I USE?

There are four main varieties of Metaxa: 3,5, 7 and 12-Star. The numbers signify how many years each variety spent aging. We used Metaxa 5-Star for our Metaxa Sidecar Cocktail.