Cocktails
This cocktail was created in New York city back in 1934, but it was not until the 1980s that the ‘Cosmo’ became the drink of the in-crowd.
A good cocktail is like a good song: simple and ingenious. Almost all classic cocktails consist of a maximum of four ingredients. The same holds true for the Cosmopolitan which first appeared in a bar book by the American Traveling Mixologists (Pioneers of Mixing Gin at Elite Bars 1903–1933. A tribute to Charles C. Mueller, Al Hoppe Senior, A. V. Guzman, James Cunningham).
In those days, the ingredients were a jigger of Gordon’s Gin, Cointreau, lemon juice and a teaspoon of raspberries. The drink obviously did not strike a chord at the time because it was virtually absent in later bar books and slipped into obscurity.
This changed abruptly in the mid-80s. Cheryl Cook, a barkeeper in South Beach, Miami, got her hands on Absolut vodka with lemon flavouring. Intending to create a new “pretty drink”, she mixed Absolut Citron, a splash of Triple Sec (orange liqueur) and a drop of Rose’s Lime with just enough cranberry juice to make it oh so pretty in pink.
45 minutes after the first guest, a certain Christina Solopuerto, tried the cocktail there was a least one cosmopolitan on every table in the restaurant. Cheryl Cook simply replaced the gin with the new vodka and used slightly tarter cranberries instead of raspberries.
Via San Francisco the cocktail made its way to New York city where it was made famous by barkeeper Tobby Cecchini. When Madonna stated in 1996 in the “Rainbow Room” at Dale DeGroff that it was her favourite drink and it then found favour with the girls in “Sex and the City” the Cosmopolitan had finally achieved cult status – justifiably so!
For a successful Cosmopolitan:
2 cl Grand Marnier, 3 cl vodka, 2 cl cranberry juice and a splash of lime juice are shaken on ice for 4 to 6 seconds and served in a cocktail glass.