Cooking Lesson #286: Limoncello Cosmo

…from the Happy Hour Bar

photo: MightyMrs.com

How you doin’? You may have seen the Cosmo most recently featured on The Real Housewives of New Jersey or you might have thought the Cosmopolitan gained popularity in the 1990s on Sex and the City. At that time, it seemed that young women everywhere were drinking a Cosmo because the girlfriends of Carrie Bradshaw commonly ordered the drink when out on the town. Once the girls found out “everyone” was drinking them they stopped because it was no longer elite enough for them.
 
The International Bartenders Association (yes, there really is a IBAC) Cosmo recipe is based on vodka citron—lemon-flavored vodka. The Cosmopolitan is related to a collection of cocktails called cranberry coolers like the Cape Codder. Though they are often presented differently, the Cosmopolitan also bears a likeness in composition to the Kamikaze Cocktail.
 
While the Cosmo is widely perceived to be a more contemporary creation for the “modern woman,” there is a recipe for a Cosmopolitan Daisy that appeared in Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars, published in 1934. Once again who invented what and when is in dispute.
 
Made with ingredients that would have been readily available during this period, this identically named cocktail aims for the same effect. If this drink is, in fact, the source of the modern Cosmopolitan, then it would be an adaption of a Daisy rather than a Kamikaze.
 
Bartender Neal Murray says he created the cosmopolitan in 1975 at the Cork & Cleaver steak house in Minneapolis. According to Murray, he added a splash of cranberry juice to a Kamikaze and the first taster declared, "How cosmopolitan!" This event supposedly led to the naming of the new beverage.
 
There are a number of other claims made as to the origin of the cosmopolitan. Cocktail historian Gary Regan credits bartender Cheryl Cook of the Strand Restaurant in South Beach, Florida with the original creation.
 
Served in a large martini glass, the combination of lemon and cranberry flavors in the Limoncello Cosmo creates a clean and bright flavor that is never cloying or too sweet.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Yield:  1 cocktail
 
Ingredients
 
1-1/2 ounces vodka, chilled (try using lemon-flavored vodka for more citrus flavor)
1/2 ounce Limoncello, chilled
1/2 ounce cranberry juice, chilled
Ice
Garnish: fresh cranberries
 
Directions

1. Sugar the rim of a martini glass.
2. In a cocktail shaker filled three-quarter with ice, add the vodka Limoncello and cranberry juice.
3. Shake vigorously until well chilled.
4. Strain the cocktail into a martini or other small glass.
5. Garnish with fresh cranberries.
6. Serve chilled immediately.

ChefSecret:  Limoncello is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy, around the Gulf of Naples. It is also a popular homemade liqueur that escapes Italian taxes. There are various recipes available online and in print.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “Like many others I thought I would never survive the pandemic. I am not afraid of death I just don't want to be there when it happens.”
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