Is the Cosmopolitan a real cocktail?

Yes — the Cosmopolitan is a legitimate modern classic, on the IBA Contemporary Classics list, popularized at Dale DeGroff's bar at the Rainbow Room in New York in the early 1990s. The Sex and the City era gave it a cultural moment that overshadowed its serious craft credentials.

The Cosmopolitan suffers from a credibility problem because of its association with the late-1990s Sex and the City era — the drink became shorthand for unserious cocktails ordered by characters who weren't paying attention. The actual drink is well-built: citron vodka, Cointreau, fresh lime juice, real cranberry juice (NOT cocktail mix), shaken, served up with a flamed orange peel. The 4-component template is balanced and structurally sound, sharing a profile with the Sidecar (cognac, Cointreau, lemon) and the Margarita (tequila, Cointreau, lime). The modern Cosmo emerged from Cheryl Cook in 1980s Miami and was refined by Dale DeGroff at the Rainbow Room in New York around 1990. Toby Cecchini gave it its now-standard recipe and added the flamed orange peel garnish. Made with the correct ingredients (real cranberry juice, citron vodka, fresh lime), it's a strong tart drink that rewards good technique. Made with bottled sweetened cranberry cocktail mix, it tastes like a candy and earns the bad reputation. The cocktail is real; bartenders rolling their eyes at it are usually responding to lazy versions of it.