Cosmopolitan cocktails are glamorous Prosecco-free vodka cocktails that became famous thanks to the Sex and The City ladies! Not overly sweet, not overly sour, very easy to prepare, made with cranberry juice, limes, vodka, and Cointreau.

Best served for pre-dinner cocktails, to celebrate New Year's Eve or a girls' night in.

Cosmopolitan Cocktails

I like Cosmos because they are easy on the throat and, well, as much as I pretend to be the New-York-Gal that I am inside, I enjoy sipping daintily away.

But to give a plain truth, I reside in the Northern Beaches of Sydney. I am up at 6 in flip flops, shorts, and T-shirts, darting between the kitchen, shooting location, and my desk.

As different as it can be from New York City.

But with a glass of Cosmo in my hand? I can feel a little closer to what it's like in NYC! Haha.

What do Cosmos taste like?

Cosmos are sweet with a lime slightly bitter finish. It tastes of cranberry juice with orange [from the Cointreau], and while there is a good measure of it, with equal measure of alcohol and non-alcohol, you wouldn't be able to taste the alcohol much. They are dangerously easy to consume, or as we also like to say it, dangerously drinkable!

What you need for Cosmos

Here's what you need:

• Cranberry juice, SWEETENED – for this recipe, do not use cranberry juice that is unsweetened as it is extremely sour… way too sour! The sweet is supposed to come from the sweet cranberry juice. Accidentally got unsweetened? Use it sparingly – dissolve an equal part of sugar in hot water and cool it before adding to the plate as required.
• Neutral vodka – the neutral vodka which does not have a taste and comes in its purest form. Use mid-shelf because there is rather a lot of vodka in Cosmos. If your budget permits, keep it on the uppermost shelf…more often I pour out the vodka neat.
• Cointreau – this is a clear orange-flavoured liquor called triple sec. Cointreau is a brand of triple sec, the best, in my opinion (certainly one of the most popular).
• Lime juice – fresh!

Cosmos would be fairly strong with 3 full shots of alcohol!!!

How to prepare Cosmopolitan Alcoholic Beverages

In this case, one just throws all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and stirs, then strains it and pours into a martini glass.

The original accompaniment is the olive or orange peel. This extra little fragrance as you drink the Cosmopolitan enforces the flavor of orange and feels really nice!

When is it appropriate to drink Cosmopolitan Cocktails

Cosmos are one of those cocktails that aren't very heavy so they are perfect to be served during dinner parties as cocktails before dinner. Also, it's a relatively short drink (as opposed to the high-volume 'tall' drinks like Tequila Sunrises) so you're not satiated with cocktails before dinner.

So, when I claim that Cosmos are a classy cocktail, at the same time, there is a fun element to them for me. Think – Girls' Nights Out (well, nights IN!), Bachelorette Parties, Christmas (on-theme colour!), Thanksgiving, and other holiday occasions!

What to serve with Cosmos

The sort of Cosmos I think are the ones that are best accompanied by finger foods. Crostinis with any topping of your choice are good, Mini Quiche or an appetizer based on smoked salmon, you might want to look through my list of Party Foods.

Cosmopolitan Cocktails would also complement a homemade Gravlax wonderfully well. It's easy – impressive!

Ingredients

• 60ml/ 2 oz Vodka (Note 1)
• 30ml/ 1 oz Cointreau
• 90ml / 3 oz cranberry juice sweet (not unsweetened, Note 2)
• 2 tsp lime juice, fresh
• Ice
• Orange peel, optional garnish

Instructions

1. Place cocktail shaker and add ice to it.
2. Now pour the vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice and squeeze a lime too. Shake vigorously 10 times.
3. Pour it into chilled martini glass and make sure you are straining it. Garnish with orange peel.

Recipe Notes:

1. Vodka – there is quite a good measure of vodka in Cosmos therefore do not hesitate to use a premium vodka. My mid-shelf vodka is Absolut. That is why I only use / keep / buy the best, top-shelf (costly) vodka for consumption neat!
2. Cointreau is a sweet liqueur, made of the fruit of Walker oranges, categorized under the triple sec category. But if you do not get Cointreau get another brand because it will also work fine.
3. Cranberry juice – you don't want to consume the diet unsweetened cranberry juice because the taste of the drink will be too strong! Cranberry juice needs it in the sugar. If it is bitter, it doesn't matter if you used sweetened or unsweetened, dissolve sugar in hot water*, cool, and add it to your drink to sweeten it by washing down the bitterness.

* In the event of a cocktail emergency (I get it!), speed things up as follows: 2 measures of white sugar to 1 measure boiling water, dissolved by stirring until cool, then add 1 measure crushed ice to freeze immediately.

Nutrition per drink not provided.