There are few cocktails more recognizable than the Cosmopolitan. The blush-pink, tart cocktail served straight up —a blend of vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice and lime—was born at a crucial time in cocktail history. At the heart of the Gay Rights movement and before the dawn of the cocktail renaissance, the Cosmo, in its tippy martini glass, was a star that went on to become a modern classic. The extent of the Cosmopolitan’s reach was unlike that of any other drink created during the 20th century. There’s a long debate over who actually created the cocktail—but what’s even more interesting is the cast of characters and fairytale circumstances that popularized it.
The most obvious source of its cultural dissemination was Sex and the City, where it was Carrie Bradshaw’s signature cocktail—the dainty, stiletto-like glass a fixture of her social outings. But before it hit HBO, it cycled through many iterations and social circles, from the gay community in Provincetown to the celebrity regulars at the Odeon, the buzzy restaurant responsible for its proliferation throughout lower Manhattan. Eventually, it caught the attention of the liquor and juice companies and leapt onto the small screen, reigniting its popularity.
During the ’80s, it was a cooler, more local crowd ordering Cosmopolitans. By the early ’90s, the drink had died down. The crowds moved on. And then Sex and the City featured it 10 years later and it just came roaring back. Everyone and their mom, tourists visiting, and sorority girls, wanted a Cosmopolitan. You could even get them at dive bars and bowling alleys. Big cities, like Paris and London, were drinking them, which is a testament to how far reaching it was. All the while, bartender purists looked down on the Cosmopolitan and rarely recommended it to their patrons.
Ultimately, the Cosmopolitan’s audience extended far beyond and it became a fixture on menus and was adapted and replicated by four-star restaurants and Applebee’s alike (not sure of its authenticity or quality from the classic). And though its territory nowadays is more suburban and ordered more regularly by housewives and baby boomers (and those that refuse to sip a pink drink, but do it secretly), the Cosmo still lingers —a nostalgic, rose-tinted elixir of another age.
Toby Cecchini, owner of The Odeon restaurant, Tribeca, New York, is widely credited with inventing the modern-day Cosmopolitan. There was a terrible drink called the Cosmopolitan making the rounds at gay bars in San Francisco in the mid ’80s—it was cheap vodka, Rose’s lime juice, Rose’s grenadine, and it went in a Martini glass with a twist. In 1988, a girl who worked with him had friends from San Francisco visiting New York and they showed her the drink. The consensus was that it tasted gross, but it looked pretty sparkling in the lights. He went about reconstructing it by using ingredients of a Margaritas—fresh lime juice and Cointreau. Plus, Absolut had just come out with Citron, a citrus-flavored vodka. He took the Cointreau, fresh lime juice and the Citron, and to approximate the Rose’s Grenadine, he grabbed cranberry juice from the bar, which is usually reserved for a Cape Codder (vodka and cranberry drink that was and is very popular).
It was served to the waitresses as a shift drink. They became crazy about it. It then became the staff drink and soon the staff started turning the regulars onto it. People from the outside came in and ordered it. The Odeon at the time was a stronghold for celebrities. They would shout out, “Boyfriend! Give us more of that pink drink!” The drink was disseminated into lower Manhattan within a year.
Dale DeGroff, author of the Craft of the Cocktail, and former head bartender at the renowned Rainbow Room in New York City, put it on the menu and was responsible for popularizing a definitive recipe that became worldwide standard in the mid-1990’s. The version he encountered while in San Francisco in the early ’90s was just awful. Everyone thought it was a crowd pleaser and a hot drink. What he did to change the game with Cosmopolitans was to use an orange peel on top (later flamed). No one else had done that before and it produced nice aromatics to the drink. Today, the use of an aromatizer, kind of like a perfumer, can accentuate the orange aromatics even more.
Cocktail menus weren’t really a big thing back then. There were basic cocktails and you made whatever else you conjured up. People wanted gin Martinis, vodka Martinis, vodka sodas. Bar programs weren’t sophisticated. But because the Cosmopolitan was so trendy and popular, especially among women, establishments were putting it on their menus in some form. It also got women cocktailing again after decades of absence. One of the first variations on the Cosmo was the White Cosmopolitan, which became a very popular cocktail on the Upper East Side of NY. This version had vodka, white cranberry juice (clear and sweeter than regular cran), St-Germain elderflower liqueur (not triple sec or orange liqueur) and lime juice. Less tart, sweeter and not the signature pink hue, but a Cosmo nonetheless. This movement was a call to action for bars to reinvent the classics once again in America.
Whether you’re a fan of the classic Cosmopolitan, never imbibed on a Cosmopolitan, or interested in trying one of the cool variations and time-tested Cosmos that I have made for parties, events, weddings, company events, and bar/restaurant customers, please see below. I have become somewhat of a Cosmo connoisseur over the years and love a good classic Cosmopolitan or specialty Cosmo from time to time. Unfortunately, when I am out, I need to specify how I would like it. Most often, I like drinking a cosmo with mandarin or orange vodka (Stolichnaya, Absolut, or Ketel One), which sometimes is not available at bars or restaurants. It is fruitier, less tart, and more balanced compared to the citrus vodka or plain vodka and the Ketel One orange vodka is very good. When I was in the business of creating cocktail menus, many of these stood out and made it on the menu. Give these cosmos a try this summer and they are easy to make at home. A good rule of thumb is to stay true to its standard – use some kind of vodka, fresh lime juice, and orange liqueur and the rest can be a mix-n-match of flavors and combos. The Cosmopolitan recipe closely resembles drinks that came before, like the Margarita, Kamikaze, and Harpoon (crafted by Ocean Spray). Please let me know your feedback and any questions you may have. Enjoy and Cheers!
Classic Cosmopolitan (DeGroff)
- 1 ½ oz Absolut Citron vodka
- ¾ oz triple sec
- ¼ oz fresh lime juice
- 1 oz cranberry juice cocktail
- Flamed orange peel for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini/glass or coupe. Garnish with an orange peel (veggie peeler) by lighting the skin over the glass to extract the oils and drop in.
Tony’s Cosmopolitan (the one we know today)
- 2 oz lemon vodka
- 1 oz Cointreau
- 1 oz fresh lime juice
- 1 oz cranberry juice cocktail
- Lemon/lime peel or twist for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini/glass or coupe. Garnish a lemon/lime peel using a veggie peeler or channel knife for twist.
Michael’s Modern-Day Cosmopolitan
- 1 ½ oz Absolut Mandarin (if no Absolut, use Stoli Orange)
- ¾ oz Cointreau
- ½ oz fresh lime juice
- 1 oz cranberry juice
- 2 dashes orange bitters
- Orange peel for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini/glass or coupe. Garnish the peel using a veggie peeler.
Blue Cosmo – same as above, but use blue curacao instead of Cointreau
Michael’s Re-mixed Cosmopolitan
- 1 ¼ oz Absolut vodka
- ¼ oz elderflower liqueur
- ½ oz fresh lemon juice
- ½ oz simple syrup
- ½ oz fresh or bottled ruby red grapefruit juice
- 2 dashes of grapefruit bitters
- Lemon or grapefruit peel for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini/glass or coupe. Garnish the peel using a veggie peeler.
Sexy Sea Cosmopolitan
- 2 oz Tito’s Handmade vodka
- 1 oz orange liqueur
- ½ oz butterfly pea flower (amazon)
- ½ oz fresh lemon juice
- Edible orchid flower for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini/glass or coupe. Garnish edible orchid or any edible flower.
The Paris Cosmopolitan
- 1 ½ oz raspberry vodka
- ½ oz Midori melon liqueur or melon liqueur
- ½ oz fresh lemon juice
- ¼ oz simple syrup
- 1 oz white cranberry juice
- Lemon peel or twist for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini/glass or coupe. Garnish the peel or twist using a channel knife or veggie peeler. For twist, wrap around finger for 30 sec to create a spiral twist to hang off glass.
Michael’s Ginger Cosmopolitan
- 1 ½ oz Tito’s Handmade/organic vodka or ginger-infused vodka
- ½ oz Domaine de Canton ginger liqueur or ginger liqueur. For infused vodka, increase triple sec slightly
- ½ oz triple sec
- ½ oz fresh lime juice
- ½ oz cane syrup (2:1 sugar to water)
- Candied ginger for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini/glass or coupe. Garnish candied ginger on a stick.
Ginger-infused vodka – time consuming peeling and cutting ginger root, but really good, especially if you love ginger. 2-3 cups of ginger root per 750ml bottle of vodka. Soak some lemon juice with vodka and ginger in a large airtight mason jar for 48 hours. Stir every 12 hours. When complete, fine strain infusion into a clean container.
Michael’s Pomegranate Cosmo
- 1 ½ oz citrus vodka
- ¾ oz Cointreau
- ½ oz fresh lime juice
- ½ oz POM pomegranate juice
- ½ oz orange blossom water
- Sugared rim, optional
- Orange twist for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini/glass or coupe. Garnish the twist using a channel knife.
Orange blossom water –
2 cups loosely packed orange flower blossoms, 2 cups distilled water. Crush the orange blossoms in a mortar and pestle until they are a paste. Let sit for 2 hours. Combine the petal paste and distilled water in a jar. Stir and cover. Let sit for 2 weeks. Strain the blossoms out of the water and then add the water to a container.
Michael’s Cucumber Cosmo
- 1 ½ oz Effen or Prairie organic cucumber vodka or cucumber-infused vodka
- ½ oz Cointreau
- ½ oz fresh lemon juice
- ½ oz white cranberry juice
- Splash rose water
- 1 oz freshly squeezed cucumber juice or blender. Thin as possible
- English cucumber ribbon or rollup and lemon twist (optional) for garnish
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker or mixing glass. Strain into a chilled martini/glass or coupe. Garnish the ribbon by peeling the cucumber to the third layer and intertwine over a skewer. Rollup done by rolling cucumber skin and skewering. Lemon twist using a channel knife. Great drink to batch!
Cucumber-infused vodka –
3 cups of peeled and sliced English hothouse cucumber per 750ml bottle of vodka in a large mason jar for 24 hours. Stir after 12 hours. When complete, fine strain infusion into a clean container.
Rose water –
2 cups fresh rose petals, 3 distilled water. Add the rose petals and distilled water to a pot and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Once the water simmers, lower the heat to low and keep the water at a very slow simmer for 30 minutes. Pour the simmered water through a fine mesh strainer. Discard the flower petals. Store in fridge when cooled.
Cheers,
Michael Nagy
Advanced Mixologist/Liquid Chef
