Even before they came back with aplomb for And Just Like That, the ladies of Sex and the City were very much a constant presence in our lives.
From quoting some of the most iconic lines to incorporating elements on how to dress like Carrie Bradshaw for a touch of boldness, they’ve been part of culture for the last 25 years.
And that’s never more true than if you found yourself at a bar and struggling what to order. A classic go-to cocktail for many is the Cosmopolitan – and who doesn’t think of Carrie and co when sipping the pink drink?
Well, it almost wasn’t to be – and it’s because Sarah Jessica Parker thought the cocktail – made of vodka, cranberry juice, orange liqueur and lime juice - was “terrible.”
Can you imagine getting glammed up to order, say, a Harvey Wallbanger or a Corpse Reviver with your friends instead of the quintessential Cosmo? It just doesn't have the same ring...
Did Sex and the City invent the Cosmopolitan?
Despite feeling synonymous with the 90s show, the Cosmopolitan was around for decades before.
In fact, there is evidence for the cocktail being around as early as the 1930s – a similar recipe for a Cosmopolitan Daisy appears in the drinks guide Pioneers of Mixing at Elite Bars 1903–1933, published in 1934.
Some 40 years later, bartender Neal Murray claims to have created the cocktail in Minneapolis when he added a splash of cranberry juice to a Kamikaze – a martini cocktail consisting of vodka, triple sec and lime juice.
The first taster replied, “How cosmopolitan!” giving another possible origin story to the drink.
Despite no clear origin, what is fact is the cocktail shaking up society in the 1990s, when SJP’s Carrie and friends made it their signature orders.
Fans of the show would go out en masse and order the drink too, thus turning it into a staple cocktail.
However, appearing on iHeartPodcast’s Table for Two With Bruce Bozzi, Sarah Jessica revealed she was regularly sent cocktails by fans of the show when out, but she could only ever bring herself to “take a sip.”
“I never drank cosmopolitans. [I] thought they were terrible,” SJP admitted.
“… People would send them over. I would say thank you and raise a glass and take a sip and think, ‘What is all the fuss about?’”
However, SJP later had somewhat of an enlightenment, and now “loves” them.
“One day someone sent a cosmopolitan over and it was opaque, pale pink, fleshy, you could see a little bit of pulp of whatever citrus had been used, with a twist, freezing cold, and I was like, ‘Oh, this is a cosmopolitan. I get it now’.
“I would say I really started drinking cosmopolitans that I chose on my own and would order, I’m going to say like six, seven years ago and I love them.”
Which is reassuring, considering the Emmy winning actress actually launched her own line of Cosmopolitans in a can.
In 2022, The Perfect Cosmo by SJP was introduced to the world, heralded as a modern twist on the classic recipe that’s based on Sarah Jessica’s personal style and taste.
The “well-heeled mixture of cranberry, aromas of freshly squeezed lime, and hints of strawberry” comes with a premium vodka and triple sec base for a sweet-but-balanced finish you can buy in a bottle or can.
“I’ve tasted some pretty extraordinary cocktails over the years and in my travels, but our Thomas Ashbourne Perfect Cosmo is up there among the very best,” SJP said in the press release at the time.
