Classic Cocktail 8

It is no secret that marketing, advertising and the media are powerful communication mediums. This is especially true for the Cosmopolitan which story revolves around marketing. Let’s leave behind the old classics we have been looking at lately and flash-forward to something much more recent. Just like the Manhattan, here is another native to New York.

So strong is visual media that a lot of people most probably know the “Cosmo” (as it is loosely called) from the series Sex and the City starring Sarah Jessica Parker. Through this hit series, the cocktail has become popular among young women. The power of television!

The original story of the Cosmo is very much marketing related. In the 1960s, one of the leading cranberry juice companies, Ocean Spray, held a marketing campaign which promoted a series of cocktails using cranberry juice. In that series, there was a cocktail called the Harpoon which was a concoction of vodka, cranberry juice and a squeeze of lime (sounds very much like your common vodka-cranberry – well, it is! And it is now known as a Cape Codder instead) Substitute the vodka with citrus vodka and add a little orange liqueur and Voila, the Cosmopolitan was born. This too was due to another marketing campaign. In the 1980s, a bartender by the name of Cheryl Cook in South Beach, Florida used a brand of product that was being test-marketed – Absolut Citron. The use of citrus vodka then became popular and is the common product used in most recipes now.

Despite being a “Lady’s drink”, it’s actually quite strong.  Look at the proportions in the recipe below and judge for yourself.

Ingredients
45ml Citrus vodka
22.5ml Orange liqueur (Cointreau)
30ml Cranberry juice
7.5ml Lime juice

Instructions
Shake all ingredients and serve straight up into a martini glass, garnish with an orange peel.