ETHANOL

COSMOPOLITAN

Toby Cecchini, Odeon NYC, 1988.

MARTINI GLASS
ETHANOL 21 G147 KCAL FROM ETHANOL3.9 OZ SERVED

SPEC

1½ oz · 45 mlVODKA40 %
¾ oz · 22 mlCOINTREAU40 %
½ oz · 15 mlCRANBERRY JUICE
½ oz · 15 mlLIME JUICE

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

METHOD

  1. 01SHAKE ALL WITH ICE
  2. 02DOUBLE-STRAIN INTO CHILLED MARTINI GLASS
  3. 03GARNISH WITH FLAMED ORANGE PEEL

1 oz taken as 30 ml in the metric column.

STRENGTH // WORKED

Pre-batch3.25 oz mixed with ice, 0.9 oz of it pure alcohol
MeltShaken: +20 % of the pre-batch, +0.65 oz of water
Served3.25 + 0.65 = 3.9 oz in the glass
Strength0.9 ÷ 3.9 = 23.1 % ABV as served
Ethanol0.9 oz × 29.57 ml × 0.789 g/ml = 21 g · about 147 kcal from the alcohol alone

IN THE GLASS

D-LIMONENE

FROM COINTREAU · citrus peel oil

Formula
C₁₀H₁₆
Mass
136.24 g/mol
IUPAC
(4R)-1-methyl-4-prop-1-en-2-ylcyclohexene

An orange rind, squeezed, throws a spray that catches the light. That's d-limonene boiling off. It's roughly 95% of orange peel oil by mass, and the molecule that puts the "orange" in orange anything. Used industrially as a green solvent because the chemistry that dissolves citrus oils also dissolves greasy machinery. The expressed-peel garnish on a cocktail is delivering vaporized limonene to the rim of the glass.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Old Fashioned · Martini · Margarita · Gin & Tonic · Mai Tai · Piña Colada · Hemingway Daiquiri · Americano

CITRAL

FROM LIME · the lemon aroma

Formula
C₁₀H₁₆O
Mass
152.24 g/mol
IUPAC
(2E)-3,7-dimethylocta-2,6-dienal

Lemon's defining note: technically a mix of two geometric isomers (geranial and neral) that read as the same aroma to the nose. Lemon peel, lemongrass, lemon verbena, and Indian chai all carry it. In cocktails it's what a lemon twist contributes that lemon juice can't: the volatile expressed from the oil glands, not the acid from the pulp.

PUBCHEM ↗

ALSO IN Margarita · Mojito · Daiquiri · Whiskey Sour · Gimlet · Moscow Mule · Paper Plane · Aviation

CHEMISTRY

Vodka, Cointreau, cranberry and lime. The neutral base puts the citrus compounds in front: d-limonene from the orange liqueur and citral from the lime. Cranberry is pigment and tartness; the vodka adds strength, not flavor.

PROVENANCE

Several bartenders claim earlier versions, but Cecchini codified the now-canonical recipe: Absolut Citron, Cointreau, lime, cranberry, lemon twist. Carried into mass culture by Sex and the City in the late 1990s. Cecchini later said the drink was a deliberate refinement of a far worse San Francisco precursor a colleague brought to the Odeon.

VODKA // NEARBY

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