Cool New Cosmos 

More than Just a Pretty Potable,
These Cocktails Attract Serious Cash

    It may be pink and pretty, but the Cosmopolitan still is packing a powerful wallop as a moneymaking cocktail for any bar. Although it originated on the West Coast several decades ago, it was a bartender in New York who first popularized the drink in the mid-’80s and a group of sexy actresses on a popular television sitcom that sent demand for the Cosmo soaring in bars across the country in the ‘90s. Today, bartenders are continuing to experiment and come up with new and unique versions of the Cosmopolitan that keep their customers clamoring for more.

Cosmic Revolution
    Toby Cecchini, now an author and part owner of Passerby, a bar and art gallery in New York City, was bartending at New York City’s famous bar and restaurant Odeon, when a friend told him about a drink being made in San Francisco called a Cosmopolitan that was made with vodka, Rose’s limejuice and grenadine.
    Cecchini, thinking the original recipe was a little strong and sweet for his taste, refined and reinvented the West Coast cocktail by mixing Absolut Citron, fresh limejuice, Cointreau liqueur and “just enough cranberry juice to give it a demure pink blush,” according to a passage from his book, “Cosmopolitan: A Bartender’s Life.”
    Today, the drink is featured on practically every bar menu across the country, with many bars adding their own twist to create signature drinks that sell for top dollar.

Ras-Ma-Taz
    When the Ginger Grove restaurant/bar opened in the highly competitive market of Miami last year General Manager Susan Buckley wanted a cocktail list that would complement the Pan-Asian cuisine created by Executive Chef Christian Plotczyk.
    So, the venue’s full bar features a large line-up of specialty cocktails, including a Raspmopolitan made with Ketel One vodka, Cointreau, raspberry puree and fresh limejuice for $10.
    Buckley says she included a version of the Cosmopolitan as one of the bar’s signature drinks because, “The Cosmopolitan is such a popular drink and we wanted to put our own little spin on it.  We were getting bored of the regular old Cosmo. Our Raspmopolitan takes Cosmopolitans to new heights.”
    In fact, the Raspmopolitan quickly became Ginger Grove’s No. 2-selling cocktail. Buckley attributes its popularity to its universal appeal.
    “Cosmos are such a unisex drink. Both men and women are not afraid to drink it,” she says. “(The Raspmopolitan) tends to be a before dinner or during dinner drink, not usually an after dinner drink.  It complements food pretty well.”
    Nightclubs, bars and lounges can compare notes with bartenders at Phillips Seafood Restaurants, as well, where staff are promoting two new Cosmopolitans in a special insert on their drink menu — the Prickly Pear (prickly pear juice combined with Svedka Vodka and Cointreau) and the Chesapeake Bay Breeze (Stoli Vodka, Cointreau, cranberry juice, pineapple juice and a squeeze of fresh lime).
    Fresh additions to a menu are just as important as fresh ingrediants in the glass.

Variations on a Theme
    Other venues from coast to coast also have found the Cosmo to be a cash cow that not only appeals to a variety of customers but also complements almost any cuisine. At Ariadne Restaurant & Bar in Newtonville, Mass., customers often order the house Cosmopolitan — made with Absolut Citron vodka, triple sec, fresh limejuice and cranberry juice — to accompany Chef Christos Tsardounis’ Mediterranean and Asian influenced fare. And on Monday nights, the restaurant’s Peacock Lounge features Martini Night and offers the cocktail along with its other house Martinis for only $5. 
    And, even though the Cosmopolitan usually is identified by its distinctive pink color, it can be made perfectly clear. According to Gary Regan, author — along with his wife Mardee — of several books on cocktails, a new Cosmopolitan was created at the Bellagio in Las Vegas at a party hosted by Türi Vodka and Vanity Fair magazine. The special Türi Crime Scene Cosmo was served at a “crime scene” party honoring the CBS Las Vegas version of “CSI.”
    “The Türi Crime Scene Cosmo is a simple variation on the Cosmopolitan, calling for white cranberry juice –– thus eliminating any evidence in red –– but we’re betting that the DNA will tell us who dun it,” the Regans wrote on their Web site, ardentspirits.com. The cocktail consists of two ounces of Türi vodka, one ounce of Cointreau liqueur (or Triple Sec), one ounce of white cranberry juice and a splash of fresh lime juice combined with ice, then shaken or stirred and served in a chilled Martini glass and garnished with a lime slice or Maraschino cherry.
    And if you are especially patriotic — or just want to make some good old American cash — you may want to add a Blue Cosmopolitan as well as the red and white versions on your menu. At Bacchus Chop House and Wine Bar In Fairfield, N.J., the bar serves this refreshing twist on the Cosmopolitan by mixing white cranberry juice, Christiana vodka, Cointreau, limejuice and a splash of blue curacao. NCB