Cosmopolitan
Sydney's about to become a hotbed of cranberry stained lips as The Sex and the City Movie sends gals and their pals out by the dozen for pink drinks in Martini glasses, writes Myffy Rigby
Members of the sisterhood everywhere will be flocking to bars for one of the world's best known cocktails. And then? Why, straight for the feature length version of Sex and the City for two hours of fashion, cocktails, tears and laffs. The coming weeks will be all about donning a frock, flicking back a Cosmo and slipping on some perilously high heels. A Cosmopolitan, if made correctly, should be quite tart, pale pink in colour and be garnished with a twist of lemon.
The drink Carrie Bradshaw made famous in the television show and emulated by women everywhere is a very straight up cocktail of vodka, triple sec, lime juice and a dash of cranberry and not as girly as you might first assume. "The cranberry juice" says Toby Cecchini, the New York bartender who re-popularised the drink. In his book, a Cosmopolitan "is just a stain, really, a dollop to make the thing fresh looking and cheeky.
Any more than a splash and it throws off the balance."
Contrary to popular belief of lazy bartenders everywhere, the Cosmo is not a blender drink and those lurid pink and red slushy machine concoctions that ooze into so many Martini glasses you see around are nothing better than a faint echo of the real thing. Like a fake Louis Vuitton handbag, they're fine if you don't know what you're looking for.
"Part of why the Cosmo is seen as a grotesque mockery of a decent drink is because lazy bartenders turn out lopsided, cloying versions of them, and that's what is then interpreted as the drink," says Cecchini. "A proper Cosmopolitan - which is not, by the way, an oxymoron - should be just that nudge over the balancing line into tart. Like any shaken drink, the Cosmopolitan wants to be brutalised. There should be aeration, collision and dilution galore going on in that shaker."
Plenty of people have laid claim to inventing what has become one of the world's most popular cocktails but according to spirits writers Gary and Mardee Regan it was invented in the 80s in Miami by bartender Cheryl Cook where it was originally made with Rose's lime cordial (like a Gimlet) before being reinvented by Cecchini.
Because the drink's served in a Martini glass, it's often mistaken for a flavoured Martini. And these don't actually exist. A Martini is traditionally made with gin (later realisations see it made with vodka) with a vermouth wash and either a twist of lemon or an olive garnish. These variations should, by rights, have other names.
Best place in Sydney for a Cosmo?
Zeta Bar
Grant Collins and Co. can make just about anything you ask them to and favourites like the Cosmopolitan are no exception.
Hilton Sydney ?Level 4, 488 George St 2000. (02 9265 6070)
Astral
Cocktails in total luxury while you look straight out over the city.
Level 17, Star City; 80 Pyrmont St, Pyrmont 2009. (02 9777 9000)
Longrain
Try and nab a table (they're as rare as hen's teeth) or swan around the simple, bleached wood bar.
83-85 Commonwealth St Surry Hills, 2010. (02 9280 2888)
Verde
A tiny little upstairs room in the style of James Bond, drinks come straight up and as classic as the room.
115 Riley St (Corner Of Stanley St), ?East Sydney 2010. (02 9380 8877)
ZanziBar
Take your Cosmo up onto the roof and look out over the terrace-scapes of the inner west.
323 King St ?Newtown 2042. (02 9519 1511)