The Cosmo Makes A Comeback

The Cosmopolitan is back. If you haven’t heard or seen, the Cosmo has been proclaimed by some as the drink of Summer 2021, as consumers venture out and gather together after more than a year of social distancing during the pandemic.

The pretty pink cocktail shot to fame in the late 1990s/early 2000s. There are differing accounts as to who invented it, but there’s no question that the Cosmo’s role on Sex & The City fueled its popularity.

But just the drink soared to dizzying heights, it soon faced a backlash for being too basic and ubiquitous. It became profoundly uncool to order a Cosmopolitan at many bars, especially “serious” craft cocktail spots—some so precious that they didn’t even stock vodka.

Still, many people never stopped drinking them. The Cosmopolitan is, after all, a great drink when made properly. And now that some 20 years have passed since Carrie Bradshaw and friends first hoisted their Cosmos, what’s old is cool again. Here are a few recent spins on the now-classic cocktail.

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Nuevo León

Course Drinks

Keyword Cosmopolitan, cranberry, vodka

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Grey Goose L’Orange vodka
• ½ oz. Solerno Blood Orange liqueur
• 1 oz. Lemon juice
• 1 oz. Cranberry juice

Instructions

• Add all ingredients into shaker and shake.
• Strain into coupe glass.
• Garnish with orange slice.

Notes

Gail Westmoreland, food & beverage manager at Serẽa in Coronado, CA, created this recipe.

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Cosmo ICEtail

Course Drinks

Keyword Cosmopolitan, cranberry, vodka

Ingredients

• 1 part Reyka vodka
• 2 part Cranberry juice
• 1 part Fresh lime juice
• 1 ¾ parts Simple syrup 1:1
• 1 ¾ parts Water

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients into a freezer-friendly vessel of choice.
• Place in the freezer and freeze until icy consistency.
• Serve with a spoon.

Notes

National Reyka Brand Ambassador Trevor Schneider created this recipe.

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Mother’s Cosmo

Course Drinks

Keyword gin, Gordon’s Sicilian lemon gin, raspberries

Ingredients

• 1 ½ oz. Gordon’s Sicilian lemon gin
• ½ oz. Fresh lime juice
• ½ oz. Orange saccharum
• 2 Fresh raspberries

Instructions

• Muddle 2 fresh raspberries in a cocktail shaker.
• Add all the ingredients and fill with ice.
• Shake and strain in a chilled cocktail coupe.
• Garnish with an orange peel.

Notes

For orange saccharum, you need a small jar or a plastic container, 4 oranges and 100 grams of caster sugar. Mix the peel of the oranges with sugar, shake everything and let them rest for 24 hours.

Mixologist Michele Lombardi created this recipe with drink retailer The Bottle Club.

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Strawberry Rose Cosmo

Course Drinks

Keyword grapefruit, lime, Monin Strawberry Rose syrup, vodka

Ingredients

• 1 oz. Vodka
• ½ oz. Triple sec
• ½ oz. Monin Strawberry Rose syrup
• ½ oz. Fresh lime juice
• ¾ oz. Grapefruit juice

Instructions

• Chill a cocktail/Martini glass.
• Pour ingredients into mixing glass with 2/3 ice in order listed.
• Cap, shake and strain into chilled serving glass.
• Add edible flower(s), strawberry garnish

Notes

The mixologists at Monin created this recipe.

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Cause-Mopolitan

Course Drinks

Keyword Cointreau, Cosmopolitan, Grey Goose vodka, vodka

Ingredients

• 1 ½ oz. Strawberry lemongrass-infused Grey Goose vodka
• ½ oz. Cointreau
• ¾ oz. Lime juice
• ½ oz. Cranberry juice

Instructions

• Combine all ingredients in a shaker.
• Shake and fine strain into coupe glass.
• Garnish with orange swath.

Notes

Bartender Brian Eadie at Geraldine’s in the Kimpton Hotel Van Zandt in Austin, TX, created this recipe for Pride.

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Bradshaw on Bedford

Course Drinks

Keyword basil, rhubarb, strawberry, vodka

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Vodka
• 1 oz. Rose rhubarb sun-dried tomato syrup
• ¾ oz. Lemon juice
• 4 Basil leaves

Instructions

• Combine ingredients in a shaker with ice.
• Shake vigorously.
• Double strain into a coupe glass.
• Garnish with a ribbon of rhubarb.

Notes

Rose rhubarb sun-dried tomato syrup:
Combine 6 stalks of rhubarb, 5 cups of dried rose petals, 3 cups of sundried tomato (must be air sealed, NOT oil-packed), 4 cups water, and 4 cups sugar; bring to a boil and left to steep for 10 minutes before straining. Color should be deep red to pink and taste savory salty tart.

Max Stampa-Brown, beverage director at Den Hospitality in New York, created this recipe for the company’s Bandits concept.

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Berry Cosmopolitan

Keyword Cointreau, Frankly Organic Strawberry vodka, vodka

Ingredients

• 2 oz. Frankly Organic Strawberry vodka
• ½ oz. Cointreau
• ½ oz. Fresh-squeezed lemon juice
• ½ oz. Simple syrup

Instructions

• Combine all liquid in a shaker.
• Fill with ice and shake.
• Strain into a Martini glass
• Garnish with a lemon twist.

Notes

The mixologists at Frankly created this recipe.