When I began writing this last night, I had a clear idea of what it was going to be about and what it was going to have to say based on the knowledge I had at that time. There were a few details I knew I needed to double check, details that would help to make my point.
Instead, those details threw most of what I wrote in my face. I began with a brief overview of various things that have become hugely popular and eventually suffered from that popularity; things that became second-rate once they were part of the national lexicon.
At that point I transitioned into the things that the television show Sex and the City has put on the map: Jimmy Choo shoes, the Birkin bag, Magnolia Bakery, and my intended subject, the Cosmopolitan.
I was going to talk about it’s origins in Miami where it was created by a bartender named Cheryl Cook, how it became known to other bartenders who took it with them to bars and restaurants around the country. How it became a big seller at Fog City Diner in San Francisco in the late eighties, and how a dozen years later, Sarah Jessica Parker made it popular everywhere.
Then I moved on to bartenders today who cringe when someone orders one, knowing that many of those people have only had one made from a bottled mix and are quite possibly ordering one for the sole purpose of how it looks in their hand. I lamented the loss of the original combination of Absolut Citron, Cointreau, fresh lime juice and unsweetened cranberry juice; and poor Cheryl Cook who somewhere wept whenever she saw someone drinking a mediocre version.
It was my Robinson Crusoe. Anyway. I checked Wikipedia this morning to be sure I got things right and made a horrifying discovery. While I was correct about the origins of the drink, there was a major fly in the ointment that was my essay: Cheryl Cook’s original recipe called for Triple Sec and Rose’s lime. Oh, the humanity.
My wonderful lament about Cheryl’s drink being reduced in quality by its own popularity is total crap. On the other hand, bartender Toby Cecchini who improved upon it when he brought the drink to Manhattan, does deserve our pathos. So if you are inclined to mix one up, use Toby’s recipe and raise your glass to him, and to Cheryl Cook who did have the germ of a good idea, even if she needed some help with it.
The Classic Cosmopolitan
Ice
1 ounce Absolut Citron Vodka
1 ounce Cointreau
1/2 ounce fresh lime juice
2 ounces cranberry juice
Lemon rind for garnish
Fill a martini or champagne coupe with ice and set aside (or chill the glass). Combine the vodka, cointreau, lime juice and cranberry juice over ice and stir briskly or shake. Strain into the chilled glass and with a lighter, flame a strip of lemon rind over the glass and drop it in.
Makes one, increase to serve more. Make only enough for one round at a time and do not serve in over-sized glasses. Mixed drinks are best when they are still cold by the time you get to the bottom; the second half of a jumbo cocktail rarely tastes as good as the first half. You’re better to go with two or three small drinks than one enormous one.
