—————————————————— Stirred and Shaken | Houston Press

Booze

Stirred and Shaken

An e-mail from a bachelorette informs me that I am hanging out in all the wrong places on Thursday nights. I meet her at Sambuca Jazz Cafe downtown. The place is hopping, and the informant turns out to be a tall blond in a little black dress. She and her gorgeous Asian friend give me some tips for future forays on the divorcée night circuit. And she tells the bartender, Mose, to make me one of his special cosmopolitans.

Sambuca Jazz Cafe's cosmopolitan: What is it about the cosmopolitan that the Sex in the City girls and the gay men on South Park all find so irresistible? My theory is that the blood-red cocktail became a TV star simply because it's so telegenic. After all, a martini just looks like a glass of water on TV. This drink is colorful! The usual cosmopolitan is just vodka and cranberry juice shaken with ice and served straight up in a martini glass. But Mose uses Finlandia cranberry vodka to give his extra intensity.

1 shot Finlandia cranberry vodka
2 shots cranberry juice
Lemon peel twist

In a shaker with a half-cup of ice, mix vodka and cranberry juice and shake to blend well. Strain into a chilled glass. Drop in lemon peel twist and serve. Yields one.