Neal's Barbados Cosmopolitan

Difford’s Guide
Discerning Drinkers (24 ratings)

Serve in a Coupe glass

Ingredients:
1 14 oz Light gold rum (1-3 year old molasses column)
34 oz Cointreau triple sec liqueur
12 oz Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
1 12 oz Cranberry juice (sweetened)
× 1 1 serving
Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

  1. Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
  2. Prepare garnish of orange zest twist (flamed).
  3. SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
  4. FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
  5. EXPRESS flamed orange zest twist over cocktail, then use as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol
Medium
Boozy
Strength 6/10
Sweet
Medium
Dry/sour
Sweet to sour 6/10

Review:

Your standard Cosmopolitan made more compelling by a slug of warming Caribbean spirit.

View readers' comments

History:

Created in 1985 by Neal Murray at Fog City Diner in San Francisco, USA. This cocktail was added to the menu at BIX, San Francisco in 1988 and was still on the menu in 2006 when I first discovered this riff on a Cosmopolitan.
See: Cosmopolitan cocktail history.

Nutrition:

One serving of Neal's Barbados Cosmopolitan contains 156 calories

Alcohol content:

  • 1.3 standard drinks
  • 14.71% alc./vol. (14.71° proof)
  • 17.6 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Annabelle Egginton ’s Avatar Annabelle Egginton
1st February at 19:13
I used White agricole rum and seems to overpower the cranberry. Nevertheless it’s still quaffable.
25th August 2024 at 00:37
I substituted Hamilton White Stashe for the gold rum and Combier for triple sec.
Tuber Magnatum’s Avatar Tuber Magnatum
16th June 2022 at 22:25
Another lovely summer sipper. While I really enjoy a "traditional" cosmo with vodka, I like the added complexity provided by the rum in this variation.
Tuber Magnatum’s Avatar Tuber Magnatum
27th October 2024 at 22:12
Have tried this again and am now thinking it might benefit from a little more rum!
John Hinojos’ Avatar John Hinojos
8th April 2022 at 00:30
Being big rum drinkers, I think this is our favourite Cosmopolitan. The sweetness will depend on the rum you used. It has a nice balance and not overly sweet. For us, liking more sour cocktails, I think we will use just slightly less Cointreau. This is a keeper.