Name: Cosmopolitan Cocktail (Difford's recipe)
Total time: 4 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 22.5 ml Vodka; 22.5 ml Triple sec; 15 ml Citrus vodka; 30 ml Cranberry juice; 15 ml Lime juice; 2 drop Saline solution 4:1

Cosmopolitan Cocktail (Difford's recipe)
Jump to

Cosmopolitan Cocktail (Difford's recipe) image

Photographed in a Waterford Mixology Coupe Clear

Ingredients:
³⁄₄ oz	Ketel One Vodka
³⁄₄ oz	Cointreau liqueur
¹⁄₂ oz	Ketel One Citroen vodka
1 oz	Cranberry juice (sweetened)
¹⁄₂ oz	Lime juice (freshly squeezed)
2 drop	Difford's Saline Solution optional

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill a Coupe glass.
Prepare garnish of coin-sized orange zest twist.
SHAKE all ingredients with ice.
FINE STRAIN into chilled glass.
EXPRESS orange zest twist over cocktail and float as garnish.

Strength & taste guide:

Gentle

Boozy

Sweet

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

7th May 2025 is National Cosmopolitan Day

Review:

The Cosmopolitan was originally made with citrus vodka, but it's great with unflavoured vodka or a combination of the two vodkas - my preference. For this recipe, as long as your combined vodka totals 37.5ml (1¼oz) or a splash more, you should end up with a tasty, balanced cocktail. I've previously added orange bitters, but the combination of triple sec liqueur and the bitter oil from the garnish is orangy enough. Like so many cocktails, two or three drops of saline solution help meld all harmoniously.

View readers' comments

Variant:

Cosmopolitan (Dale DeGroff's recipe)
Cosmopolitan (1934 recipe)
Cosmopolitan (Toby Cecchini's recipe)

History:

The origins of the Cosmo seem to originate in the gay bars of 1970s San Francisco, but this contemporary classic cocktail was perfected and popularised in 1990s New York City. Along the way, several bartenders played their part in its success, but perhaps TV's Sex and the City was the most influential. For the full story, see Cosmopolitan cocktail history.

More cocktails by Simon Difford

Nutrition:

One serving of Cosmopolitan Cocktail (Difford's recipe) contains 151 calories

Alcohol content:

1.3 standard drinks
16.8% alc./vol. (16.8° proof)
17.6 grams of pure alcohol

More Aperitivo/aperitif cocktails
More Citrusy cocktails
More Contemporary classic cocktails
More Hall of Fame & must know/try cocktails

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.

Join the discussion

Showing 8 of 21 comments for Cosmopolitan Cocktail (Difford's recipe).
See discussion in the Forum

Please log in to make a comment

david77

4th February at 19:25

+For vodka, used 1.25 shots of unflavored vodka (Absolut - my goto).
+Used pure (unsweetened) cranberry juice and added a little bit of sugar (honey - my goto sugar).
+Used Cointreau instead of De Kuyper.
-Did not add any salt.
+After pouring into the coupe glass, added four drops of orange bitters and expressed lemon peel and droped in the drink.
Very tasty.

Henry Tran

11th October 2024 at 14:53

Made with 30ml vodka, 40ml cranberry, 25ml lemon, 10ml dry curacao with a recipe from a cocktail school. Taste alright

Catherine Wright

20th May 2024 at 12:05

I use pomegranate juice and if it needs sweetening, a little sugar syrup can be added to balance. Better than the dryness of cranberry.

Ricci Valldejuli

13th May 2024 at 01:07

Didn't have any citrus infused vodkas, so I upped the standard vodka to an ounce and used ~1/4 to 1/2 oz of Italicus. Splendid result.

James Miller

8th March 2024 at 21:02

Very nice. I substituted Cointreau for triple sec and Kettle One Orange for cintron. Nice balance and flavor. Nice to see my favorite vodka Silver Tree, vastly under appreciated !!

Joanne Waldie

27th October 2023 at 21:11

Not a fan. I find this version too sweet and to dilute. I think 45:15:30:10 ml are better proportions.

G. M. Genovese

6th February 2024 at 18:02

This is all to-taste, but your specs are one of my faves.

George Murphy

10th September 2023 at 12:08

Never was a big fan if the “cosmos” that I’d had before. This recipe makes a refreshing and balanced cocktail. Now a reliable, go-to beverage. Thanks!