Make a Cosmopolitan

The Cosmopolitan drink, affectionately dubbed the Cosmo, is a sophisticated vodka-based cocktail, flavored with orange, cranberry and lime. Though its origins are disputed, we know that it made its appearance in San Francisco, CA during the late 1980s and reached new levels of popularity when it became the drink of choice by the characters of the TV show "Sex and the City." Luckily, it's dead simple to make.

Ingredients

  • 40 ml (1⅓ oz) of vodka
  • 10 ml (⅓ oz or 2 tsp) of orange liqueur (triple sec, cointreau, or Grand Marnier)
  • 10 ml (⅓ oz or 2 tsp) of cranberry juice
  • 1 medium lime
  • 1 medium orange

Steps

  1. Chill the martini glass. Fill the martini glass with ice and leave to cool while you prepare your drink.
  2. Mix the ingredients. In a mixing glass, combine the vodka, orange liqueur, and cranberry juice.
    • You can use single shot and double shot measures if you're making several drinks at once.
  3. Cut the lime. Cut a lime in half, and divide one half into four wedges.
  4. Add the lime. Squeeze two wedges over the mixing glass, and drop them in.
  5. Add the ice. Fill up the mixing glass with fresh ice. Always do this last so you don't dilute your cocktail with melted water from the ice.
  6. Shake. Put the top half of the cocktail shaker on, pressing down firmly. Shown here is a Cobbler shaker. Hold the top and bottom with each hand and shake vigorously for about 20 seconds or when there is condensation on the outside of the shaker and it feels very cold.
    • If using a Boston Shaker (a metal bottom and a glass or plastic mixing glass), the cooling process during shaking will cause the metal to contract on the glass and form the seal. Invert so that the glass cup is on the top to prevent it from hitting and breaking on an object as well as prevent the ingredients from leaking out of the shaker.
  7. Pour it out. Remove the ice from your chilled glass. Put the cocktail strainer over the shaker and pour in to the martini glass.
    • When you put the strainer on the shaker, be sure to push it towards the edge of the glass that the mixture is going to pour over so you don't get any shards of ice in your drink.
  8. Garnish. To garnish, use an orange or lemon twist (see Tips). Alternatively, you can use a wedge of lemon or lime.
  9. Finished.



Variations

  • 2 parts lemon vodka to one parts triple sec, one part cranberry juice, and the juice of half a lime
  • Blue cosmopolitan - substitute blue Curaçao (in place of triple sec) and white cranberry juice
  • Cosmocello - substitute limoncello in place of lime juice

Tips

  • The higher quality the triple sec, the cleaner the flavor of the drink. Grand Marnier creates a drink with a very sweet and cloying flavor that some may not favor.
  • If you don't have lime juice, you can substitute sour mix.
  • To make an orange twist:

    • Cut a thin slice of peel.
    • Use the knife to remove the pith (spongy inside).
    • Cut into an even strip. Run the orange around the lip of the glass, twist it over the drink, and drop it in.

Warnings

  • Don't be tempted to add too much cranberry juice. It's there for the color, not the flavor.
  • Better quality cranberry juice makes a better cosmopolitan. Look for natural cranberry juice without corn syrup.
  • Drink responsibly.

Things You'll Need

  • 1 martini glass
  • 1 cocktail shaker (these instructions are demonstrated using a "Boston" shaker, but any shaker can be used)
  • 1 25ml (1 fl oz) single shot measure
  • 1 50ml (2 fl oz) double shot measure
  • Ice
  • 1 knife
  • 1 chopping board
  • 1 cocktail strainer
  • 1 mixing glass

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Sources and Citations

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