Attracted to the elegance of a Martini, but can’t stomach the taste of Vermouth? Why not wrap your lips around the high-class and sophisticated Cosmopolitan cocktail. When mixed to perfection, this deceptively strong tipple will make you feel like a million dollars, before sending you down the dark road of drunkenness.
The Ever-Elegant Cosmopolitan Cocktail
Equipment
Ingredients
- 40ml Vodka Citron
- 15ml Triple Sec
- 15ml Fresh Lime Juice
- 40ml Cranberry Juice
- 40g (3) Ice Cubes
- 1 Lemon Twist
Instructions
- Place a fancy martini or margarita style glass in the freezer
- Prepare your lemon twist (see extra notes)
- Next, put 40ml of Vodka Citron, 15ml Triple Sec, 15ml Fresh Lime Juice, and 40ml Cranberry Juice in a cocktail shaker, along with 3 cubes of ice
- Give the whole thing a good old shake that lasts for approximately 20 seconds
- Remove the glass from the freezer, and place your preferred drinking location, then strain the contents of the shaker into it
- Garnish with your previously prepared lemon twist
- Slowly sip your perfectly formed cosmopolitan while quietly lording it over imbibers of less sophisticated drinks
Nutrition
Getting the Most out of a Cosmopolitan Cocktail
Vodka Citron
The original Cosmopolitan recipe essentially serves as an advertisement for Absolut Citron vodka. While I have no issues with this state of affairs, budding bartenders can improve on the recipe by infusing their own citrus flavour into their vodka. To achieve this, just add 6g of Lemon zest to every 250ml of vodka and leave for 5-6 hours before removing it again. For best results, use a reasonable quality spirit (I usually go for Stolichnaya), and ensure that you avoid adding any of the white pith of the lemon, the bit that resides just below the zest.
Cranberry Juice
For those looking to go the extra mile, nothing will substitute freshly squeezed cranberry juice. As this is remarkably difficult to get hold of, however, Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice seems to be the most widely available alternative out there, and will work perfectly well.
Triple Sec
The term ‘Triple Sec’ is just a fancy name for orange liqueur and comes in a number of guises. For this cocktail, we want the clear variety so that it does not impact the colour of the cranberry juice. I generally use Cointreau, which essentially represents the most popular branded triple sec on the market. Despite what people may have told you, Grand Marnier is a brandy and not a triple sec.
Lemon Twist
In order to get the most aesthetically pleasing lemon twists in the land, I will first carefully remove a long piece of lemon peel. Next, I will trim it into long slivers, before wrapping them tightly around a chopstick, securing them tightly with a clothes peg, and leaving them there for 5-10 minutes. In order to expedite this process, serious bartenders can invest in a zesting tool that will make life a little easier.
Leave a Reply