History of The Cosmopolitan Cocktail
The Cosmopolitan, a stylish pink concoction in a martini glass, was the signature cocktail in the 1990s for Carrie Bradshaw and her "Sex and the City" friends.
But before that, it was favoured by Madonna and other celebrities from South Beach to New York to San Francisco. In the 1960s, it was a recipe on Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice bottles, then called the Harpoon.
Even further back, a drink that had the same name but very different round-the-world ingredients, thus the name, made the rounds in 1927.
Many sources credit today's Cosmo popularity to the mid-1980s and Cheryl Cook, a bartender in Miami who was called The Martini Queen of South Beach. Cook wanted to give the martini a twist that would make it visually appealing and more popular with women; she used Absolut Citron, a new product; Rose's Lime, a little triple sec and cranberry juice to give it the characteristic pink hue.
Dale “King Cocktail” DeGroff sampled the drink at the Fog City Diner in San Francisco; he put his own spin on it at the Rainbow Room in New York with Cointreau, fresh lime juice and a flamed orange orange peel, according to an account from the Museum of the American Cocktail recounted in The Georgetowner. The cocktail took off when Madonna was pictured holding a glassful at a Grammy party.
The 1927 version, according to St. Louis' "Feast," included Scotch whisky, Irish whiskey, Swedish punch, vodka, Italian vermouth, French vermouth and a lemon twist. The recipe came with a suggestion to send the corpse to te League of Nations.
Carrie and her Manhattan friends, who branched out during the course of the HBO series and movies into a variety of ever-trendier "It" drinks ending in "ini," quit drinking Cosmos when everyone else took them up.
But the Cosmo has earned its place as a drinks-with-the-girls staple. It's no longer on menus, The Vancouver Sun points out, because everyone knows what they are, and bartenders all know how to make them.
Bartender Cook, who invented the pretty pink cocktail women would like to be seen with, might even say it's attained the classic status of the little black dress.
Cocktail glass
Microbadges
<p>The origins of the Cosmopolitan are somewhat disputed. It is likely that the drink was created independently by different bartenders since the 1970s.</p><p>It is generally recognised that John Caine brought the drink to San Francisco around 1987 from the Midwest. The same year in Manhattan, the internationally recognised version of the cocktail was created by Toby Cecchini, based on a poorly described version of Cheryl Cook's creation.</p>
Pardon the interruption
Did you know that you can become a member for free, taking your cocktail making skills up to level 11. You can save your My Bar ingredients, make tasting notes, have personalised Tried and Want to try lists and more.
Ingredients
Method
How to make a Cosmopolitan
-
- Add all the ingredients to a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice, and shake until the outside of the shaker becomes frosted
-
- Strain into a cocktail glass and garnish with a twist of lemon peel before serving
Filed with tags
Related posts
Who Invented the Sidecar Cocktail?
An irresistible combination of cognac, triple sec, and lemon juice, the Sidecar has been a classic cocktail at the top of every good mixologist’s repertoire since the end of the First World War. So wh... read more
The History of the Dark 'N' Stormy Cocktail
The Dark 'N' Stormy cocktail is a delicious blend of dark rum, ginger beer, and lime that is simple to create and perfect for enjoying on a hot summer's day. While the modern variant can be made using... read more
Cocktails Created from the History Books
To get your name in the history books, you must have done something wondrous or terrible. To be remembered, you need to be considered a hero or a villain. But you only know that you have really made i... read more
Subscribe to our Newsletter
Get tips straight into your inbox.
Upgrade your mixology
Become a member for free taking your cocktail making skills up to level 11. Or become a premium member to rise to cocktail greatness.
- Save your bar forever
- Access to our Cocktail Creator, allowing you to create your own wonderful concoctions.
- Create personalised cocktail menus for all your events, bars or parties
- Save cocktails to personalised 'Tried' and 'Want to try' lists
- Create and record tasting notes on cocktails
- Create lists of cocktails to share with friends and family
- A personalised MyBar URL, allowing you to share everything you can make with friends
- And much more ... (what to buy next, measurement choices, search personalisation...)
Have you tried our Wordpress Plugin?
Download our plugin and embed cocktail recipes directly onto your own site or blog.
Choose from our whole recipe database, or choose a specific cocktail made with a certain ingredient, and let us place a beautiful recipe on your own site.
Find out more