#Cosmo drink series

(I, a recent graduate of the nearby Fashion Institute of Technology, fancied myself a regular baby Carrie walking into a place like that and treating myself to a cocktail that I could barely afford.) Bossy tells me that over the past few years, the school of cocktails considered вЂњnostalgicвЂќ (read: passГ© and potentially ironic, like the espresso martini, Long Island iced tea, Midori sour, and arguably the cosmo) is back in fashion, thanks to a collective shift in judgment and appreciation within the bartending community that came after a period of reflection during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

Bossy and I originally met years ago when she ran the bar at a rather posh restaurant in Chelsea.

вЂњIf IвЂ™m being honest, guests never stopped ordering the cosmo,вЂќ shares Estelle Bossy, beverage director for Panorama Room at the Graduate Roosevelt Island. Furthermore, CecchiniвЂ™s cosmo is a combination of flavors thatвЂ™s hard not to love: bright citrus, a hint of cran, and pops of orange zest braced by vodka, the virtually flavorless chameleon of spirits. First of all, itвЂ™s balanced, which is a key factor in what constitutes a quality cocktail and is a somewhat objective characteristic, meaning itвЂ™s something we can agree on, whether or not we actually like how the drink tastes. the Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour, and Gibson) experienced a pop culture-fueled moment in the spotlight similar to (and right after) that of the Cosmo, further burying our little pink drink under a misguided and widespread adoption of hyper-masculine energy.Д«ut the real cosmopolitan, which is a soft, placid shade of blush when made correctly (in contrast to the hot-pink martini we tend to see on TV), is a damn good drink. To CecchiniвЂ™s point, the Mad Men school of classic cocktails (e.g. And wWhen the Cosmo fell from grace, it really fell from grace, earning derision from disenchanted bartenders and barflies alike, especially in an era that placed heavy emphasis on the вЂњgenderвЂќ of cocktails-the fact that no cishet man would be caught dead drinking something as вЂњgirlyвЂќ as a Cosmo only exacerbated societyвЂ™s rejection of it. Just like any fashion trend, drinks tend to get a bad rap after they naturally descend from initial stardom.

#Cosmo drink series

It would have been a natural choice for her to identify the pale-pink cocktail as вЂњthe signifier of Carrie and her crewвЂ™s cognoscenti status as insider New Yorkers,вЂќ Cecchini explains, despite the fact that city dwellers were вЂњyawning at the thought of a cosmo by the time the series came out.вЂќ Bushnell began writing the New York Observer column on which the show was based in 1994. From the time I invented it in 1988 until its mad popularity here naturally waned, maybe three to five years later, she certainly would, like anyone here on the scene, have crossed it many times,вЂќ he tells me. вЂњCandace Bushnell was a pretty permanent fixture at places like ElaineвЂ™s in New York during the вЂ™90s, and so would have been exposed to the drink in its initial flair of fame here in New York City. ItвЂ™s unclear how the cosmo ended up on SATC a decade after it initially hit New YorkвЂ™s bars, but Cecchini has an idea. вЂ‹вЂ‹Since then, Cecchini adds, its popularity has wavered, but itвЂ™s never stopped symbolizing a night out with the girls. Cecchini swapped in Absolut Citron vodka, fresh lime juice, Cointreau (an orange-flavored liqueur), and Ocean Spray cranberry juice, and the drink took the city by storm. The cosmo as we know it is his improved version of a mixed drink that was popular in San Francisco gay bars at the time, originally calling for rail vodka, RoseвЂ™s lime juice, and grenadine. вЂњGood drinks wax and wane over time, sometimes goosed by current media, as with the old-fashioned after Mad Men came out,вЂќ says Toby Cecchini, who originally concocted the cosmopolitan while working at TriBeCa hot spot The Odeon in 1988, 10 years before the first episode of Sex and the City aired.

But if you ask its creator, the cosmo never quite left. The same can be said for the showвЂ™s mascot: the cosmopolitan, a neoclassic New York City drink in the throes of a resurgence alongside its four most iconic drinkers. Love it or hate it, Sex and the City is an undeniable fixture of the late вЂ™90s and early aughts, and its 2021 revival-and reception thereof-a testament to the power of nostalgia for that era.