If you’re a Sex in the City fan or just like delicious cocktails then you have to try the cosmopolitan cocktail. The Cosmo as this drink is often affectionately called is a refreshing, sweet, and easy to make drink.

What are Cosmopolitan cocktails?

Cosmos are beautiful Pink Martini. The color is quite striking as it is a light pink color.

Unlike some other classic cocktails like the Rickey cocktails (the Gin Rickey, and the Bourbon Rickey) the cosmo has a disputed history. Depending on who you ask, there are several people credited with creating this cocktail dating all the way back to the 1930s.

So as you can see, this is a classic cocktail which has been around for quite some time. It certainly got into an additional surge of popularity during broadcasting of the show Sex in the City as it was showcased as the main characters (Carrie Bradshaw) favorite drink.

What does it taste like?

The dominant flavor of a cosmopolitan cocktail is a tart and citrusy sour flavor from the line and cranberry juices. It does have a hint of sweet from the Triple Sec or Cointreau. It’s similar in flavor to a Vodka Cranberry and (Cape Coddler) or a Kamikaze. Both of which are vodka based cocktails with similar ingredients.

The vodka does not have a strong taste. Vodka is a light flavored liqueur which you typically cannot taste strongly in cocktails unless you’ve used a lot of it. Therefore, the flavors of this drink are represented by the other ingredients.

This is a great sour based cocktail much like a lemon drop martini and also a Whiskey Sour.

Occasions to Make a Cosmo

The cosmopolitan cocktail is a fun, festive and delicious drink. It’s great for any occasion if you want an easy but also colorful cocktail.

It’s perfect for dinner parties and holidays (especially Christmas or winter holidays in Valentine’s Day). Also, since this drink is so easy to make, it’s great for impromptu get-togethers or other celebrations and you want to focus on the rest of the party and not spend too much time making drinks.

Ingredients

This cocktail is super duper easy to make. You only need four ingredients: vodka, cranberry juice, triple sec, lime juice.

The cosmo is an IBA approved cocktail meaning that it has a standard recipe. Although some like to make it with an unflavored vodka, IBA standards call for a citrus flavored vodka. The citrus flavored vodka has become a standard more recently in this drink.

So, if you want to stick with the IBA standard, you should use a vodka citron. However, unflavored vodka is still acceptable and that is what we’ve used in this recipe. If you want to have the extra citrus taste, you can add a little bit of lemon juice in addition to a lime juice with your unflavored vodka.

Recipe

This cocktail will take no time to throw together.

Step One

Place a martini glass into the freezer so that it begins to chill while you mix your liquids up.

Step Two

Add to your ice to your shaker.

Step Three

Pour your vodka, Triple Sec, lime juice and cranberry juice over the ice in a shaker.

You can use Cointreau instead of triple sec. They are both very similar orange liqueurs.

Step Four

Place the top on your shaker and shake well. Your drink is ready to pour when the outside of your Shaker is cold to the touch. It will likely start to ice over.

Step Five

Pour your drink from your shaker through a Hawthorne strainer into your chilled martini glass. Garnish your martini glass with a lime wedge.

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