between the sheets (dale degroff)

1 1/2 oz Brandy (Courvoisier VS Cognac)
1/2 oz Benedictine
1/2 oz Cointreau
3/4 oz Lemon Juice

Shake with ice, strain into a cocktail glass with an optional sugar rim, and garnish with a flamed orange peel (unflamed). Two Mondays ago, I listened to Dale DeGroff's episode on on Tristan Stephenson's The Curious Bartender podcast. There, Dale described when he was putting together a program for Joe Baum, he found a Between the Sheets recipe in the 1951 Bottoms Up book from the Detroit Wonder Bar that called for Benedictine instead of rum (a rich equal three parter that recipe lacked lemon juice). Dale felt that the rum in the classic Between the Sheets confused things, so he mashed up both recipes for his menu to make it more of a Sidecar riff. That night, I sourced the recipe from his 2002 The Craft of the Cocktail book. The combination was very similar to the mid-century They Shall Inherit the Earth from the Esquire's The Art of Mixing Drinks as well as the apple brandy Honeymoon Cocktail, but I still felt that it was still important to try Dale's take on it. Once shaken and strained, Dale's version blossomed wihth orange and Cognac aromas. Next, lemon and orange notes on the sip akin to a Sidecar led into brandy, herbal, and orange flavors on the swallow.