Cosmopolitan Recipe and History

Cosmopolitan History

A Cosmopolitan, colloquially known as a cosmo, is a frothy, bright pink cocktail which gained huge popularity in the 1990s - becoming even more in demand thanks to its frequent appearances on tv show 'Sex and the City'.

The cocktail is believed to have started out in the 1930s, and can be found in a few slightly different forms to today's mix in the 1934 book Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars. One of these recipes, the "Cosmopolitan Daisy", has lemon instead of lime, gin instead of vodka and raspberry instead of cranberry. There are a further 4 cocktails in the book with "Cosmopolitan" in their names, but curiously, all of these are pink in colour. However, a few bartenders across the US insist that they are responsible for the creation of the Cosmopolitan in the '70s and '80s.

Cheryl Cook claims to have created the Cosmo while working in a bar on South Beach in Miami. The bar was featured in a copy of Cosmopolitan magazine, inspiring Ms Cook to name her new cocktail. Another bartender, Neal Murray, think he's responsible for the creation. According to him, he added a splash of cranberry juice to a classic Kamikaze shooter and the first person to taste it commented "How Cosmopolitan!"

It is classically served in a Martini glass with a lime wheel to garnish.

How to make a Cosmopolitan

Cosmopolitan ingredients:

1.5 oz vodka citron
1 oz cranberry juice
0.5 oz orange liqueur (like triple sec, Grand Marnier or Cointreau)
0.5 oz lime juice

Cosmopolitan instructions:

1. Add all of the ingredients into a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake well and then double strain into a martini glass.
3. Garnish with a slice or wheel of lime.

Cosmopolitan Variations

1. Rude Cosmopolitan - tequila, orange liqueur, lime and cranberry juice
2. London Cosmopolitan - gin, orange liqueur, lime and cranberry juice
3. Brazilian Cosmopolitan - cachaça, orange liqueur, lime and cranberry juice