Sex and the City 2: Cocktail for You
At the end of the first Sex and the City movie, Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda rediscover the signature drink of their more youthful days:
"Why did we ever stop drinking these?" Miranda wonders after taking a sip of the Cosmopolitans they made famous during the television series' six-year run from 1998 to 2004.
"'Cause everyone else started," Carrie replies.
Like the girls' pouf skirts, Manolo slingbacks and Fendi baguettes, the Cosmo has indeed gone out of style, a victim of its own popularity and cheap, nasty knock-offs.
It's also a victim of changing tastes. We are in more serious times now, and that means we're indulging in more serious libations, such as whisky and wine and pre-Prohibition-era cocktails. Our drinks now come with a purpose, a pedigree, a bit of history, a reason to drink that goes beyond mere alcohol content. We're often choosing drinks with less alcohol content, too, mindful of our health and drunk-driving laws.
Today, the Cosmo tastes of nothing so much as nostalgia. Its citrusy sweetness is a reminder of an era of frivolous excess, an era when we worried about whether Mr. Big would call, not whether we'd be able to pay the mortgage or have enough money to retire, like, ever.
It's not just the Cosmo that takes us back to those headier times -- it's all those vodka-based "martini" cocktails, the syrupy choco-tinis and appletinis that kept us happily lubricated in the 1990s and early 2000s. Sure, they still appear on plenty of cocktail lists, but their time is past as surely as overoaked California Chardonnay.
Or is it?
On May 27, Carrie, Samantha, Charlotte and Miranda sashay back onto the big screen in Sex and the City 2. Two years after the first movie was released, and six after the HBO series ended, they are still struggling with relationships, still victims of stylist Patricia Field's outrageous fashion sense, and still knocking back the cocktails.
In celebration, SKYY Vodka has created a series of official SATC2 cocktails.
SKYY, which claims to be the leading domestic super-premium vodka in North America, prides itself on being the perfect definition of vodka: a colourless, odourless and flavourless spirit. And that makes it especially good for light, summery cocktails like the SATC2 ones.
There's one just for you, at least if, like so many of us, you've ever seen yourself as one of the SATC characters.
There's the Glamour Girl (vodka, lemon and lime juice, cassis rim) for all the lovelorn Carries out there; Blonde Ambition (vodka, orange juice, raspberries) for all the man-eating Samanthas; Red Over Heels (vodka, lemon, muddled grapes and basil) for tart Miranda; and, for preppy Charlotte, the Park Avenue Princess, a sophisticated take on sangria (vodka, lemon-lime soda, red wine float). Mr. Big gets his drink, too with Mr. Manhattan (vodka, Wild Turkey bourbon, cola and a splash of maraschino cherry juice).
They're simple drinks, easy to make, easy to enjoy, nothing complicated to them at all. And you know, after a couple of years of being serious about everything from our budgets to our booze, it's kind of nice to quaff something that's just fun and flirty.
"Why did we ever stop drinking these?" Good question. Maybe it's time to start again.
Glamour Girl
This variation on a classic Cosmopolitan is perfect for anyone who ever wished she could walk in Carrie Bradshaw's stilettos.
Serves 1.
2 ounces (60 mL) SKYY Vodka
1/2 ounces (15 mL) fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounces (15 mL) fresh lime juice
1/2 ounces (15 mL) simple syrup or 1 teaspoon (5 mL) sugar
Garnish: Creme de cassis or Chambord, sugar
Rim martini glass: Pour Creme de cassis (black currant liqueur) into shallow dish, place sugar into another shallow dish. Dip the rim of the martini glass first into liqueur then sugar, rotating to make sure the whole rim is sugar-covered.
Place vodka, juice and simple syrup or sugar into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously, strain into cocktail glass. Finish with drop of cassis on top.
Source: Vancouver Sun
