Best Cosmopolitan Drink Recipe

My dear friend, Dorothy, and I have spent many an evening in a cocktail lounge of hotels and a great Cosmo is always her drink of choice. You see, Dorothy and I travel together so often for work. Long ago she went from a colleague to a true friend that I can spill my guts to. And I love catching up with her in those down moments between different events on work trips.

If you have a wonderful Dorothy in your life, make her this great Cosmo Cocktail for one of you next girls’ nights. It is made with simple to find ingredients, and while you might only order when you and she are in cocktail lounges, it couldn’t be more simple to make right in your own home.

How to Make a Cosmopolitan

Here is a brief overview of how a cosmopolitan martini comes together. For the full recipe including all measurements, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.

1. Chill your martini glasses. Fill your martini glass with ice and water and put it in the refrigerator. If you can plan ahead it is best to leave it in there for four hours. This will help keep your martini colder longer.
2. Combine ingredients. Add ice to your metal cocktail shaker. Pour in the vodka, orange liqueur, lime juice, and cranberry juice. Give it a shake. You’ll know it is well shaken when the shaker feels cold in your hands.
3. Get your glass. Dump the ice water out of your martini glass and wipe it down.
4. Serve your cosmo. Strain the cocktail into the chilled martini glass and garnish with a lemon twist or lime wedge.

Vodka Recommendations

As mentioned above, you want to pick a high quality vodka as it is the back bone of this drink.

Grey Goose and Belvedere are my recommendations for top shelf vodka, and Tito’s is my recommendation for a budget-friendly vodka.

If you are on a budget, but you want to get that high end taste, I highly recommend Costco’s Kirkland brand vodka. It is extremely smooth, and in blind taste tests it has beaten out Grey Goose.

For this cosmo recipe, because the liquor is such a prominent ingredient, I recommend shying away from citrus-flavored vodka. The other ingredients in the cocktail will allow the citrus to shine through. And flavored vodkas tend to be lower in quality than the others I’ve listed here.

Orange Liqueur

This cosmopolitan drink recipe calls for orange liqueur. This comes in a few different forms, such as Cointreau, triple sec, and Grand Mariner. Cointreau is a top-shelf version of triple sec, a sweet orange liqueur. They vary in alcohol content with Cointreau coming in around 40% and triple sec hanging out around 25%. Grand Mariner blends cognac and orange liqueur and could be used here.

I highly recommend investing in a bottle of Cointreau. I use it in my famous Margarita Recipe, and it really does take cocktails to the next level.

Chilling Martini Glasses

This cocktail, like all martinis, is best served cold. Because we don’t serve them with ice due to the risk of diluting it, chilling the martini glasses is a great way to help keep the drink colder longer.

To achieve a chilled cocktail glass, fill the martini glasses with ice and then top with water. Put the glasses in the refrigerator for as short as 10 minutes or as long as a few hours. While any amount of time will help keep the drink stay cold, letting them sit longer will keep your drink colder longer.

Dump out the ice and water, and wipe down the glasses before straining your martini ingredients into the chilled glass and enjoy a cocktail that stays cooler longer.