For years, we ate frequently at a restaurant where cocktails were common and there were cosmopolitans on many a table. When I finally ordered one, it tasted like a glass full of liquid sugar and very little else (probably why it was so popular). This was a pity, because I like everything that, in theory, goes into the drink: cranberry, orange, lime, and vodka. To give me a drinkable version, Steve came up with this. It is nowhere near as sweet as what bars and restaurants usually give you.
Still, there is such a thing as too tart. That’s why we use a cranberry cocktail (i.e., cranberry juice sweetened with other fruit juice) rather than pure cranberry juice. This is another drink, like our version of a green apple martini, that we garnish with frozen cranberries. Also like that drink, this one is just the right color for a Christmas cocktail, especially if you garnish it with a lime slice as well.
If you’re not a fan of using a cocktail shaker, you can just stir the ingredients together and pour over ice.

Extra-Tart Cosmopolitan Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 oz. vodka
- 2 oz. cranberry juice cocktail
- 1 oz. Cointreau
- juice of 1 medium lime
- ice
- lime slice or frozen cranberries for garnish
OTHER THINGS YOU'LL NEED
- Cocktail shaker
- Cocktail glass preferably chilled
- Cocktail strainer
Instructions
- Put the cranberry juice cocktail, Cointreau, lime juice, and vodka in a cocktail shaker half-filled with ice. Cover shaker and shake vigorously.
- Strain into a chilled cocktail (i.e., martini) glass. Garnish with a slice of lime or 2-3 frozen cranberries.
Leave a Reply