Metropolitan Cocktail Recipe: How to Make a Metropolitan

The Metropolitan is a vodka cocktail made with cranberry juice and lime juice. Developed by New York City bartender Chuck Coggins in 1993, this classic cocktail is a subtle variation of the Cosmopolitan that swaps citrus vodka for blackcurrant vodka. Coggins’s Cosmo-inspired Metropolitan is the best-known Metropolitan drink recipe. An earlier version of the Metropolitan was a variation of a Manhattan cocktail featuring sweet vermouth and apple brandy.

The main difference between a Metropolitan and a Cosmopolitan is that a Metropolitan features blackcurrant vodka, and a Cosmopolitan has citrus vodka. Some Metropolitan recipes also omit the orange liqueur commonly found in a Cosmopolitan or serve the Metropolitan with a different garnish—an orange or lemon twist is standard for a Cosmo. The brandy cocktail known as a Metropolitan is another drink entirely and does not include vodka or fruit juice.