What is a Cosmopolitan?Citrus vodka, triple sec, cranberry and lime at Fiena, King's Cross

A Cosmopolitan is made with vodka, Cointreau (or another triple sec), cranberry juice and lime juice. The traditional garnish is a slice of lime, though a twist or a wedge is used too. The International Bartenders Association's recipe uses vodka citron, a lemon-flavoured vodka, and citrus vodka seems to have been popularised as the base in the mid-1990s by the cocktail expert Dale DeGroff. Plenty of bartenders still use plain vodka.

Because it comes in a large cocktail glass, the cosmo is sometimes filed under martinis, but it isn't one. It actually belongs to the Gimlet family of cocktails, and in make-up it's a close cousin of the Kamikaze shooter.

Nobody agrees. A recipe for a "Cosmopolitan Daisy", with gin, Cointreau, lemon juice and raspberry syrup, was published in 1934, so the name at least is older than most people think. After that, the claims multiply:

• Minneapolis, 1975. Bartender Neal Murray says he created it at the Cork & Cleaver steak house by adding a splash of cranberry juice to a Kamikaze. The first person to try it is said to have declared, "How cosmopolitan."
• South Beach, Florida, mid-1980s. The cocktail historian Gary Regan credited bartender Cheryl Cook at the Strand Restaurant. She wanted a drink that looked stunning in a martini glass, and her recipe used citrus vodka, a splash of triple sec, a drop of Rose's lime and "just enough cranberry to make it oh so pretty in pink."
• New York, 1989. According to Regan, the version recognised around the world today was made by Toby Cecchini and Melissa Huffsmith-Roth at The Odeon in Manhattan, with citrus vodka, Cointreau, lime juice and cranberry.

Other stories trace it through Provincetown, Cleveland and San Francisco in the 1970s and 1980s. Wherever it started, fame arrived in the 1990s. DeGroff said that after Madonna was spotted drinking one in 1996, he had calls for the recipe from as far away as Germany and Australia, and then Sex and the City made it Carrie Bradshaw's drink. In the 2008 film, asked why she'd stopped ordering them, Carrie replies: "Because everyone else started." Background from Wikipedia's Cosmopolitan page.

On our drinks menu, the Cosmopolitan is made the modern way: citrus vodka, triple sec, cranberry juice and lime juice. Like all our cocktails it uses a 50ml spirit measure, so it's a proper drink. Cocktails are served from 10:30. If you'd rather have your vodka another way, the back bar has Ketel One, Grey Goose, Belvedere, Stolichnaya and Beluga Noble.

The cosmo has good company on the list: the Margarita, classic or spicy, the Bramble, the Pornstar martini, the French 47 with gin, lemon and prosecco, and four spritzes. See our posts on the margarita, the cocktail list and the limoncello spritz.

Our bar gets a mention in reviews as often as our kitchen. One guest, R C, wrote: The drinks were also really good. (R C, Google review) And Ayub found the room perfect for both a casual meal and a nicer night out (Ayub, Google review).

Tart cranberry and lime suit fresh, light food. From our main menu, try a cosmo with the Caprese, buffalo mozzarella with heritage tomato and basil, the Capesante, pan-fried scallops in a lemon butter sauce, or the Goat cheese salad with walnuts and a honey mustard sauce. Later in the evening, it works with the Salmon with lemon sauce, and with the Cheesecake and its forest fruit sauce for dessert. See our posts on insalata caprese, capesante and date night at Fiena.

Not drinking? Our Lady in Red mocktail has cranberry too, with apple juice, rose syrup, almond syrup and strawberry purée. More ideas are on our alcohol-free list.

“Food was a 10/10, very yummy and filling and delicious.”

Nour, Google review, 2025