The Call of the Cosmo
It's more than a pretty pink cocktail. But I couldn't help but wonder...what idiot wrote that line in the movie??
I’ve been drinking cosmos for 35 years. There was a wine period followed by a whine period, but nothing outdid this pretty pink concoction. Fun, flirty and girly, it conjures up visions of sisterhood, elegance and a hit TV show.
The origins of the cosmo are contested. In 1968 Ocean Spray wanted to expand its market beyond children to reach the adult market, so developed the “Harpoon” which was the Cosmo without the Cointreau (or triple-sec): just vodka, cranberry and lime juice. But the “Harpoon” went the way of the Spruce Goose, and never really took off.
There are many bartenders who lay claim to the first cosmo. Neal Murray says he created it in 1975 at the Cork and Cleaver steak house in Minneapolis, by adding a splash of cranberry to a Kamikaze, and the first taster declared “How cosmopolitan.” This rings about as true to me as “A Million Little Pieces.” Steak house? Minneapolis…
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