Bahama Bob's Papa's Pilar Blonde Cosmo

     Sex and the City was promoting the sweet pink drink to the masses, Sasha Petraske was opening Milk & Honey on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. A speakeasy in which the bartenders made cocktails focused on true craftsmanship, they were drinks that sought to challenge the consumer, not simply provide them with an easy delivery method for booze. As music too was reacting to the bubblegum pop of this time period, drinks were as well and Sex and the City created The Cosmo.

     The exact origin of the Cosmopolitan is fuzzy at best, mostly because until the late ‘80s it was a similar drink that went by a different name.  In the late nineteenth century a cocktail was known as the Daisy, it emerged as a delicious drink that was loved for its ability to modify harsher flavors of booze. The classic recipe called for spirit, sweetener and citrus, which is similar to the structure of the Cosmo – this recipe is now known as the classic “sour family” recipe, because cranberry isn’t a citrus, it’s possible that this proven drink structure is the foundation for which the Cosmo is based.

     I prefer the use of a nice rum which unlike vodka has some flavor of its own and marries well with the other ingredients of the cocktail.  Give this one a try I feel like you will be really surprised.

Bahama Bob's Papa Pilar Blonde Cosmo

• 3 oz. Papa’s Pilar Blonde Rum
• 1 oz. Pierre Ferrand Dry Orange Curacao
• Juice of ½ Lime
• 1 oz. Cranberry Juice

Place all ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled and strain into a chilled cocktail glass.  Garnish with a lemon zest.