THE COSMOPOLITAN

Only a few years back, this drink was called the "Stealth Martini", first by Barnaby Conrad III, the author of The Martini , and then by its imbibers. Whether the name came about because of the Cosmo’s covert kick or because of its tendency to be ordered by those unimpressed with the classic Martini is of little consequence now. We’re just glad the cocktail crowd hasn’t deemed it passé.

Some bartenders snub the Cosmopolitan, comparing it to those drinks on the short list of classic cocktails. We admit it lacks complexity, but few can deny this drink's popularity and reliability, especially in establishments with slipshod mixers. In fact, whenever we’re unsure of a bar’s integrity, we start the evening with a request for the Cosmopolitan, a descendant of the Cold War’s Cape Codder and the respectable sibling of the Kamikaze shooter. Made with 2 ounces of Vodka, 1 ounce Cointreau, ½ ounce lime juice and 1 splash cranberry juice, the only way a mixer can foil this is to substitute Rose’s lime juice for fresh fruit.

No one seems to have bothered recording who mixed the first Cosmo, though many drink historians and bartenders agree that the gay community in Provincetown, Massachusetts, should be credited with the accomplishment. Occasionally, the name Cheryl Cook will surface, but it leads only to San Francisco, never to an actual person. Many bartenders – including John Caine, owner of San Francisco’s Café Mars and undisputed West Coast champion of this drink – partly credit the Cosmopolitan with the resurgence of the cocktail during the ‘70s, when fern bars, with their overly sweet, so called "girl-drinks", nearly destroyed the respectability of the bar.

The popularity of the Cosmopolitan traveled from New England to New York and then across he country. Imbibers like MacGyver drink it, and Hunter S. Thompson – the self-proclaimed "mad doctor of gonzo journalism" – managed to get it cited in an affidavit used in The People of the State of Colorado v. Hunter Stockton Thompson. Whenever we’re desperate for a cocktail at some endearing dive bar or you're after a reliable drink to console a friend in need, we're thankfull of the Cosmo.

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