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In the world of cocktails there is one that is especially associated with feminine charms, the sensuality of a woman’s skin, a hint of chic, urbane and very New York. We are talking about the Cosmopolitan, immortalized in contemporary culture thanks to the television series Sex and the City.

How many times have viewers seen Carrie Bradshaw (Sara Jessica Parker) and her three friends enjoying all the pleasures and glamour of the Big Apple, holding a glass filled with this unmistakable red concoction? From the hands of these four women the Cosmopolitan came to symbolize style, status and a particular way of looking at life, from the point of view of this most cosmopolitan of all cities.

This the outlook on life shared by New Yorkers, men and women born after the Baby Boom, whose philosophy is based on four fundamental principles: looking for love and making it happen, even though this means a life of promiscuity; achieving professional and social status at breathtaking speed; being addicted to technology and adopting a lifestyle dictated by the latest trends in all their aspects.

The Cosmopolitan has become the iconic drink for this new type of urban dweller, and especially for women. Those who have followed its history say that it made its first appearance in the mid eighties, when the disco era was a thing of the past, with its weird fashion and strident sounds typical of its most popular venue Studio 54. Cities turned to a new life style, dictated more than anything else by fashion. And into this new world emerged this most popular drink. It naturally originated in New York, in the Odeon Bar in TriBeCa to be precise.

Its recipe is not exactly original. The Cosmopolitan has its roots in the cocktail known as the Ocean Spray which was very popular in the 1950s. Nevertheless New York’s bar tenders, and particularly those of Manhattan, are recognized as the drink’s official creators who began to make it popular with their customers around 1987. In the same year, John Caine who owns a number of famous bars in San Francisco took the drink to the West Coast.

Caine is an expert on the subject of the Cosmopolitan and a real authority when it comes to talking about its history. According to him, “this cocktail is the result of the evolution of drinks made from gin and vodka that began in the 1950s. Forty years later, triple sec and orange juice were added to produce the Kamikaze. We also shouldn’t forget the Ocean Spray’s contribution, which added cranberry juice to the recipe. When this last ingredient was introduced, the Cosmopolitan was born.”

This is one of the official versions. The second one moves the birthplace of the drink to the sunshine of the State of Florida, and indentifies the drink’s creator as bartender Cheryl Cook in Miami. In various different interviews, she has explained that she invented the drink when she noticed that a lot of people did not drink Martinis because they liked the flavor, but because of the image that they projected when they were holding a martini glass. Cook could not explain why this was the case, but something in the shape of the glass made them feel better about themselves.

She explains that this was when she decided to create a drink that would be a treat for the palate, while also building on the image of the high life projected by the Martini glass. The original recipe was very simple, based on triple sec, mixed with cranberry to give the drink its characteristic color. Toby Cecchini of New York’s Odeon Bar added lime juice and Cointreau, thereby creating the “official” Cosmopolitan recipe, as follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 ounces vodka.
• 1/2 ounce Cointreau.
• 1/2 ounce lime juice.
• 1 ounce cranberry juice.
• 5 ice cubes

Place all the ingredients in a cocktail shaker, then immediately add the ice cubes and mix. Allow to chill for 10 seconds and then serve in a glass, decorated with a cherry or lemon slice. If you want to enjoy the complete Cosmopolitan experience, put on your best evening gown, relax on your favorite couch and, with glass in hand, await the arrival of the man you intend to seduce. You can be sure that the end result will be so delectable as to arouse the envy even of Carrie Bradshaw herself, over in New York.