The Sexy and Classic Cosmopolitan Martini

Oh, the Cosmopolitan. The drink that launched a thousand hangovers. If you are thinking of this as a fruity, nonsense drink, you are missing so much and I urge you to give this orangey, boozy sip of heaven a second chance. Those ladies from Sex in the City had something right, this drink should be solidly in your repertoire of “what should I drink tonight?"

90% pure booze, the splash of cranberry and kiss of lime act to accentuate, not cover, the delicious orange flavored vodka and liqueur that make up this timeless cocktail.

Let’s be real though, if you’re at a bar/club that never closes before 6am and lights are always blue and dim, this might not be the cocktail for the establishment that you are in. The girls were right. This is a drink for getting together for dinner, or two drinks at weeknight happy hour. You want the bartender to have the time and knowledge to devote to shaking this drink. Otherwise it will turn into the largest, worst shot you’ve had in your life.  

This drink, which from here on out I'm referring to as just a Cosmo, was the first drink I perfected in my bartending days. Often times bartenders mix up a drink and then pour the tiniest amount into a sipper cup to make sure their ratios were right and to see if they need to add anything more. Sometimes I need a little more this or a little more that, but not with this drink. I poured this one perfectly every. single. time. For real. I have this drink down to a science.

Now, real talk. Unless you're a bartender mixing up dozens of cocktails every night, you're going to want to use your jiggers to measure drinks. Even if you ARE a bartender mixing up dozens of cocktails every night, you might want to use jiggers. Alcohol isn't cheap and once you've found the perfect recipe, you want to follow it to the T so you don't waste alcohol trying to get to the perfect combination.

Don't worry about measuring the cranberry juice or lime juice. A solid splash of cranberry and a lighter squeeze of lime juice will do.