Thanks to Carrie Bradshaw, practically everyone has heard of the Cosmopolitan.

After Sex and the City put it on the map, the drink became infamous thanks to iterations prepared with less-than-fresh ingredients and sticky-sweet flavored vodkas.

But as Rich Andreoli, bar manager at Pammy’s in Cambridge, points out, the Cosmo predates SJP’s first sip by a decade.

“It’s a cocktail that came out of The Odeon Restaurant in Manhattan,” he says. “[Odeon bartender] Toby Cecchini started making it with fresh lime juice, curacao, cranberry, and vodka. And it took off.”

Andreoli makes this version with a citron vodka infused in-house with lemon, orange, and lime peels, and relies on Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao for an orange note. There’s also a honey syrup (made simply by mixing honey and water), and a more involved cranberry-cherry syrup that delivers flavor and color.

The result is tart but soft, with complex layers of refreshing citrus bound to win over even the most Cosmopolitan-skeptical. And thanks to the cranberry element, it’s just as pink as it should be.

“I feel like it doesn’t defy the palate. It looks like it tastes fun, and it does,” says Andreoli.

Cosmopolitan
You can substitute the from-scratch cranberry-cherry syrup with a quarter-ounce of cranberry juice and a single dash of Angostura Bitters

1½ ounces citron vodka*
½ ounce Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao
½ ounce lime juice
¼ ounce cranberry-cherry syrup**
¼ ounce orange blossom honey syrup (made by mixing 2 parts orange blossom honey to 1 part water, and stirring to integrate)
2 dashes Regan’s Orange Bitters
Lime swath, for garnish

Add all ingredients except lime swath to a shaker with ice and shake until chilled. Double strain into a martini glass. Garnish with lime swath. 

*Citron Vodka (yields 750 ml)
1 750ml bottle vodka
Peels of 3 oranges
Peels of 2 lemons
Peels of 1 lime

Peel citrus. Combine all peels (without pith) and vodka in a container, seal, and allow mixture to sit for at least 48 hours. Strain and remove citrus peels. Keeps indefinitely.

**Cranberry-Cherry Syrup (yields about 1½ quarts)
½ pound pitted cranberries
¼ pound pitted cherries
Juice of ½ lemon
Juice of ½ orange
6 tablespoons sugar
Zest of 1 orange
Zest of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients except cherries in a saucepan over medium heat and bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and add cherries. Allow mixture to sit overnight in a sealed container, then strain through a fine mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth. Keeps about 1 week, refrigerated.