Talk:Cosmopolitan (cocktail)

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Classification: A

[edit] Pop culture reference

There's a Flash game involving mixing a Cosmopolitan: [1]. 66.92.237.111 01:28, 8 December 2005 (UTC)

Ha-ha. Thanks for the link. It is a good game, and the company provides a lot of information that shows the Cosmopolitan (or is it just the game and the funny bartender character) is very popular. --Willscrlt 06:29, 1 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Isn't Cointreau a Triple Sec?

In the section about variations it says that you can use Triple Sec instead, but isn't Cointreau a variation of Triple Sec (like Grand Manier, etc)? --90.184.164.224 16:11, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Not really. Triple Sec is a blend of orange, lemon, and another citrus brandy, I think tangerine. Grand Marinier and Cointreau are single orange brandy. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.121.118.245 (talk) 18:46, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Based on what I have read, they are all variations on orange liqueur (or brandy). Triple Sec appears to be the ingredient used in the "original" versions of the cocktail. This is probably because it is a more common and less expensive mixer at bars in the U.S. than Cointreau or Grand Marnier. Cointreau became a part of this drink when Cecchini used it in his version. Since the IBA based its version of the Cosmo on Cecchini's version, Cointreau became the international standard, even though Triple Sec was the more traditional mixer. As noted in the article, any decent orange flavored spirit could probably be substituted. The relative sweetness of the alcohol would alter the sensation, with several people commenting that Grand Marnier makes the drink too sweet and cloying. Some people disagree with including Cointreau in the description of this drink (it has been removed from the article several times in the past), but it is common (and even internationally standardized in the IBA version). I hope that helps clear things up a little. --Willscrlt (Talk) 13:10, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Whilst this does clear things up, if you follow the reference through to Cointreau it says that it is a "brand of Triple Sec". Thus there is a redundancy here, somewhere along the line I feel an edit is needed. I'll leave it to the experts to figure out where but it looks really unprofessional at the moment. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Benjamin Dickson (talk • contribs) 08:36, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Lobsterpolitan?

Has this drink actually been served anywhere? Has anyone tried to reproduce it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.175.203.241 (talk) 01:26, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

As with most pop-culture references on The Simpsons, I assume that the drink is make-believe, but based on things in the real world. I could be wrong though. :-) --Willscrlt (Talk) 13:10, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] History

The history section is completely absurd. First it says that it was common in the 70's, then it describes it's invention a decade later, then describes other "inventions." The section on the gay-community thing needs citation, and, if true, then it's obviously the most likely candidate for "inventing the drink, and should be mentioned first. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.148.41.133 (talk) 20:29, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Agreed! That's why I just fixed it. Here is what I found out in researching it. There is a strong likelihood that the drink, or a very similar drink did originate in the gay bars in Provincetown in the 1970s. Nobody seems to know the actual creator of the drink or even the bar where it was served at that time, but anecdotal stories (which I did not consider reliable enough to reference) clearly remember the drink being served there. Also around the same time the Cork & Cleaver steakhouse in Minneapolis claims to have created the drink. Did it start there and move to P-town? Or was it vice versa? I have not been able to determine that for certain, but the Minneapolis reference is the only one in the 1970s that makes reference of the name, cosmopolitan. Further credibility for either P-town or Minneapolis being the birthplace of the drink is that John Caine remembers bringing it to San Francisco around 1987. That also happens to be the year that Cheryl Cook claims to have invented the drink. There is enough variation between all the early drinks that each of the origins may be correct. Toby Cecchini claimed that it was Cheryl Cook's version that he tweaked into the version eventually adopted by the IBA. The IBA version (thus Toby's version) appears to be somewhat less popular in the U.S. than the original Caine/Cook versions, though there may be regional influences making the difference rather than historical ones.

Since Wikipedia does not allow original research and insists on a neutral point of view, I think it is best if all of the possible origins be presented as equally possible, and people can draw their own conclusions.

My personal belief is that the drink is a product of the time period (1970s), and a logical evolutionary process from the kamikaze. Somehow it migrated to New York, and the name probably came from the Minneapolis steakhouse (not having found any claims to the name originating in P-town). The drink spread West to California at the the same time it was reinvented slightly differently in Florida around 1987. From there, it spread (again) to New York. The Florida connection sounds perfectly logical on its own, but gets a little confusing when you try to reconcile it with the other, earlier histories. If Cecchini hadn't credited Cook as his source, I would question the whole Cook history. As it is, I am left assuming that both hereditary lines are equally valid. --Willscrlt (Talk) 13:10, 20 May 2008 (UTC)