Cosmopolitan (cocktail) explained

Iba:yes
Sourcelink:cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan
Type:cocktail
Vodka:yes
Served:straight
Garnish:lime slice
Drinkware:cosmo
Ingredients:
Prep:Shake all ingredients in cocktail shaker filled with ice. Strain into a large cocktail glass. Garnish with lime slice.
Timing:All day
Notes:The drink should be a frothy bright pink color

A cosmopolitan, or, informally, a cosmo, is a cocktail made with vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, and freshly squeezed or sweetened lime juice.

The cosmopolitan is a member of the Gimlet family of cocktails. Though often presented far differently, the cosmopolitan also bears a likeness in composition to the kamikaze shooter.

Preparation and serving

The International Bartenders Association recipe is based on citron vodka, lemon-flavored vodka.[1] The use of citrus-flavored vodka as the basis for this cocktail appears to have been widely popularized in the mid-1990s by cocktail expert Dale DeGroff[2] and is used in the IBA-approved recipe. Many bartenders, however, continue to use a standard unflavored vodka — this alternative would undoubtedly be historically consistent with any of the supposed predecessors of this drink that were popular in Ohio, Provincetown, or Minneapolis during the 1970s, or in San Francisco during the 1980s.[3] [4] [5] [6] A lemon twist is sometimes used to garnish.

The cosmopolitan is usually served in a large cocktail glass, also called a martini glass. For this reason, the drink is sometimes mistakenly categorized as a type of martini.

Origins and mixology

The origin of the cosmopolitan is disputed,[7] with some histories tracing it from the gay community in 1970s Provincetown, moving west to Cleveland and Minneapolis, and landing in San Francisco. From there, it moved back east, with the contemporary recipe being mixed in 1989 in New York City. Another claim to the cosmo's origin is South Beach, Florida, in the mid-1980s.

Various creation claims

The 1930s

While the cocktail is widely perceived to be a more modern creation, there is a recipe for a "Cosmopolitan Daisy" which appears in Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars 1903–1933, published in 1934:

Made with ingredients that would have been readily available during the period, this identically named cocktail aims for the same effect. If this drink is, in fact, the source of the modern cosmopolitan, then it would be an adaption of a Daisy rather than a Kamikaze.[8] [9]

1970s: Provincetown

One version of the creation of this popular drink credits the accomplishment to the gay community in Provincetown, Massachusetts.[10] [11]

1970s: John Caine

John Caine is the owner of several popular bars in San Francisco and a cosmopolitan expert. He partially credits the upsurge in cocktails during the 1970s to the Cosmo being served at fern bars.[10] Caine is credited with bringing the Cosmo west from Cleveland.[12]

1975: Neal Murray

Bartender Neal Murray says he created the cosmopolitan in 1975 at the Cork & Cleaver steak house in Minneapolis.[13] According to Murray, he added a splash of cranberry juice to a Kamikaze and the first taster declared, "How cosmopolitan."[13]

Murray's Cosmopolitan used 1.5 oz Gordon's Gin, .75 oz Rose's Lime, .75 oz Leroux triple sec, and .5 oz cranberry juice.[14]

1985: Cheryl Cook

There are several other claims made as to the origin of the cosmopolitan. Cocktail historian Gary Regan credits bartender Cheryl Cook of the Strand Restaurant in South Beach, Florida, with the original creation.[15] In a letter to Regan, Cook related the story of how she created the drink in 1985 or 1986:

Cook's original recipes called for "Absolut Citron, a splash of Triple sec, a drop of Rose's lime and just enough cranberry to make it oh so pretty in pink." Although Absolut Citron was not introduced anywhere officially until 1988, it was test-marketed in Miami.

1987: Patrick "Paddy" Mitten

Cheryl Charming's The Cocktail Companion credits a bartender named Patrick "Paddy" Mitten with bringing the drink to New York City from San Francisco in October 1987.[16]

1989: Toby Cecchini & Melissa Huffsmith-Roth

Notable bartender Gaz Regan says that the internationally recognized version of the cocktail was created by Toby Cecchini & Melissa Huffsmith-Roth in 1989 at The Odeon, a restaurant in Manhattan, based on a poorly described version of Cheryl Cook's creation. Cecchini and Huffsmith-Roth's Cosmopolitan includes 2 oz Absolut Citron vodka, 1 oz Cointreau, 1 oz lime juice, and .5 oz cranberry juice. Other sources give Cecchini sole credit for the contemporary drink's invention.[17]

1993: New York City

According to Sally Ann Berk and Bob Sennett, the Cosmopolitan appears in literature as early as 1993 and derives from New York City.[18] [19] [20] [21]

Popularity

The cosmopolitan gained popularity in the 1990s thanks in part to Madonna.[22] Dale DeGroff explains that after the singer was spotted drinking one in 1996, overnight he received calls across the globe, "as far away as Germany and Australia" for the recipe.[23] [24]

It was later frequently mentioned on the television program Sex and the City,[13] in which Sarah Jessica Parker's character, Carrie Bradshaw, commonly ordered the drink when out with her girlfriends. The trend was spoofed in the 2008 film adaptation when Miranda Hobbes asks Carrie why she ceased drinking them, to which Carrie replies, "Because everyone else started."

Variations

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Official Cocktail recipe: Cosmopolitan . International Bartenders Association . 2017-08-13 .
  2. Web site: Cosmopolitan #2 (DeGroff's formula) Cocktail Recipe – How To Make Cocktail Recipes . diffordsguide . 2014-03-15.
  3. Book: Calabrese, Salvatore. Classic Cocktails. 1997. Prion Books. London. 1-85375-240-1. 103.
  4. Kammerling. Alex. All You Need to Know About The Cosmopolitan. Class, the magazine of bar culture. June 2003.
  5. Book: 150 Classic Cocktails. 2003. Hamlyn. London. 0-600-60992-8. 38.
  6. Book: Cocktails: The Complete Book of Cocktail Recipes for the Bartender. 2007. . London. 978-0-600-61671-9.
  7. Web site: The Definitive History of the Cosmopolitan: Quibbling over who invented it is only half the tale. Here's how the pink drink went from a Cleveland gay bar to Madonna's call drink to SATC, according to the people responsible for it. Sep 11, 2019 . PRIYA . KRISHNA. Punch.
  8. Web site: Cosmopolitan Cocktail. THE COCKTAIL SPIRIT . ROBERT . HESS. Small Screen Network. 2013-11-05. https://web.archive.org/web/20171223220129/http://smallscreennetwork.com/video/41/cosmopolitan. 2017-12-23. dead.
  9. Web site: Cosmopolitan #3 (1934 recipe) Cocktail Recipe – How To Make Cocktail Recipes . diffordsguide . 2014-03-15.
  10. Book: Harrington . Paul . Moorhead . Laura . 1998 . Cocktail: The Drinks for the 21st Century . New York . Viking (Penguin Putnam Inc.) . 76 .
  11. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20170713194957/http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/cosmopolitan_cocktail/. July 13, 2017. Cosmopolitan (cocktail). The Big Apple. Barry . Popik. January 10, 2005.
  12. Web site: Belly Up to the Bar: John Caine brought the cosmo to Frisco . 2008-05-20 . Kilduff . Paul . The Kilduff Archive . The Monthly: The East Bay's Premier Magazine of Culture and Commerce . https://web.archive.org/web/20101005015818/http://eastbaymonthly.com/kilduff-07-06.html . 2010-10-05 . dead .
  13. Web site: Best Locally Created Cocktail . Best of the Twin Cities 2006 . CityPages.com . 2018-08-22 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20070109064707/http://citypages.com/bestof2006/sexdrugsrocknroll/bestof2828.asp . 2007-01-09 .
  14. Book: Charming, Cheryl . The Bartender's Ultimate Guide to Cocktails: A Guide to Cocktail History, Culture, Trivia and Favorite Drinks. 2022 . Mango Media . 978-1-64250-793-5 . 124 . en . Cheryl Charming.
  15. Book: Grimes, William . November 2001 . Straight Up Or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail . registration . North Point Press . 119 . 9780865476011 . .
  16. Book: Charming, Cheryl . Cheryl Charming. The Cocktail Companion: A Guide to Cocktail History, Culture, Trivia and Favorite Drinks . 2018 . Mango Media Inc. . 978-1-63353-924-2 . 113 . en.
  17. News: Grub Street. Sep 19, 2016. COSMOS! How the Inventor of the Cosmopolitan Learned to Embrace His Most Famous Creation. Robert Simonson. Robert. Simonson.
  18. Book: Berk, Sally Ann . The New York Bartender's Guide. April 10, 2006. Black Dog & Leventhal. 2nd . 978-1579124700 .
  19. Book: Sennett, Bob . Complete World Bartender Guide: The Standard Reference to More than 2,400 Drinks. 117 . 1993. Bantam Books. 978-0553299007.
  20. New York. Oct 31, 1994 . 84 . 27. 43.
  21. Gourmet. 55. 7–12 . Pearl Violette Newfield . Metzelthin . July 1995. New York, New York.
  22. Web site: Cosmopolitan. 2009. October 11, 2023. es. University of Málaga.
  23. Book: Sandham, Tom. World's Best Cocktails. 2012. October 11, 2023. Fair Winds Press. 116. 9781592335275 .
  24. Book: Chirico, Rob. Field Guide to Cocktails. 2015. October 11, 2023. Quirk Books. 93. 9781594748417 .
  25. Web site: Cosmopolitan Drink Recipe. Spirit Drinks . 2010-07-01.
  26. Web site: Red Velvet Cosmo Introduced By Kathy Wakile of 'The Real Housewives of New Jersey'. Paramus Post. Fabrikant, Mel. 28 February 2012. 5 July 2012. 31 March 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120331150311/http://www.paramuspost.com/article.php/20120228155309676. dead.
  27. Web site: Bio: Kathy Wakile: Cast. Bravo TV. Real Housewives of New Jersey. 5 November 2013. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20131105125439/http://www.bravotv.com/the-real-housewives-of-new-jersey/season-4/bio/kathy-wakile. 5 November 2013.
  28. Web site: Virgin Cosmopolitan Drink. 21 December 2016. Go Shindig . Brian. Hamilton. 24 December 2016.
  29. Web site: Constipolitan Drink Recipe – Cocktail. www.barnonedrinks.com.
  30. News: Sober Times for Alcohol Marketers. Schultz. E.J.. Advertising Age. 90. 2. 26. 2019-01-19.