What do you mean Skinny Cosmopolitan? Many mistakenly believe a Cosmo recipe is always a great choice when looking to enjoy a low calorie “skinny” cocktail. The truth of the matter is variations in the recipe and amounts of each ingredient used can dramatically alter the caloric value of this popular vodka cocktail. And look out…calories are not the only consideration. Hidden in most Cosmopolitan recipes are many unnecessary and unwanted grams of carbs and sugars. So when you are looking to add crisp cranberry and citrus flavors to your vodka cocktails the ingredients choices you make can add up. Here is the Skinny on Cosmopolitan Cocktail Recipes.

A Cosmopolitan recipe calls for pouring amounts of vodka, an orange based liqueur, cranberry juice and lime juice over ice in a cocktail shaker, shaking vigorously for at least 5-10 seconds, straining the contents into a chilled martini glass then garnishing with a lemon twist or lime wedge. Depending on the choices you make the calories in your cocktail can be as few as 72 or over 300. Please note all caloric values are approximate as actual numbers can vary by brand.

The lowest calorie and Skinniest Cosmo Recipe uses Good Spirits brand sugar free mixers. Cutting back on the alcohol to and up the mixers you can sip a cocktail for only 72 calories (1 ounce of 80 proof vodka has about 64 calories and the rest comes from form mixers and garnishes) Lets break it down and compare using Good Spirits to popular cocktail recipes including those from the International Bartenders Association.

To begin our quest for the perfect Skinny Cosmopolitan let’s review and measure the benchmark of Cosmopolitan recipes from the International Bartenders Association: Official Cosmopolitan Recipe

COSMOPOLITAN (Large cocktail glass)
4.0 cl. Vodka Citron
1.5 cl. Cointreau
1.5 cl. Fresh Lime juice
3.0 cl. Cranberry juice
Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into large cocktail glass. Garnish with lime slice.
[Wait stop! What is a cl? I am in need of a cocktail recipe not a math class.]
Well just so you know a cl is the metric unit centiliter. One Centiliter is equivalent to .34 fluid ounces. The usual bar measurement is a “jigger” that is 1.5 fluid ounces or another common bar measurement is a “pony” that is equivalent to 1 fluid ounce. OK so let’s convert and adjust for us lay people:

COSMOPOLITAN
1 ½ oz Vodka Citron
½ oz Cointreau
½ oz Fresh Lime juice
1 oz Cranberry juice

Add all ingredients into cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into large cocktail glass. Garnish with lime slice.

Using this vodka cocktail recipe makes a cocktail that’ll cost you between 158 and 198 calories!

Let’s break it down.*

The vodka you choose and the amount you use is the first consideration.
80 Proof Vodka has 96 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 0.0g of carbs per 1 ½ fl oz serving.
86 Proof Vodka has 105 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 0.0g of carbs per 1 ½ fl oz serving.
90 Proof Vodka (45% alc.) has 109 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 0.0g of carbs per 1 ½ fl oz serving.
100 Proof Vodka has 123 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 0.0g of carbs per 1 ½ fl oz serving.

The liqueurs
60 Proof Triple Sec has 36 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 3.2g of carbs per ½ fl oz serving.
Countreau® brand liqueur (80 Proof, 40% alcohol) 47 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 3.7g of carbs per ½ fl oz serving
Grand Marnier’s brand liqueurs (80 Proof, 40% alcohol) 38 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 3.2g of carbs per ½ fl oz serving

The mixers
Cranberry Juice has 18 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 4.6g of carbs per 1 fl oz serving
Lime Juice has 8 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 2.8g of carbs per 1 fl oz serving

The garnishes
Lime slice has 3 calories, 0.0g of fat, and x.xg of carbs per 1/8 slice
Lemon twist has 0 calories, 0.0g of fat, and 0g of carbs

Lets take a look at another recipe from the bartending book Skinnytinis by Teresa Marie Howes.

This recipe uses a combination of ingredients that totals 288 calories using the caloric values from the book.

Skinnytini Cosmopolitan
1 ¾ oz Triple Sec (140 calories)
2 oz Vodka – 80 Proof (128 calories)
1 oz Cranberry Juice (15 calories)
¼ oz Lime Juice (2 calories)
1 Lime Wedge (1/8 lime) (3 calories)

The folks at Skinnytini recommend shaking the ingredients over ice for at least 10-15 second for a super cool tasting cocktail.

Also notice that the total combinations of ingredients in this cocktail totals 5 ounces of fluids where the recipe from the International Bartending Association total only 3 ½ ounces of fluids.

The Cosmopolitan recipe from the URL with the same name does not give you ingredients by fluid ounces but by parts. This is a common way of giving measurements that allows the mixologist to blend the amount of fluid necessary to fill the glass. Popular martini glasses range in size and can hold as few as 3 ounces to as many as 8 ounces or more. The SWANK Martini Company offers a variety of incredibly stylish martini glasses. Find them as one of our sponsors thought the banner ad link on the right of this page. Their recipe is:

4 parts Citron Vodka
2 parts Cointreau or Triple Sec
2 parts Cranberry Juice
1 part Lime Juice

Then shake and pour in one of their cool, unique martini glasses (they really are something special)

Now this recipe depending on the size of the glass can bring your calories over 400, and watch out for the carbs!

As you can see when counting calories it is important to note there are many variations on a recipe and that every establishment will set their own measurement for cocktail recipes. So, you may order the same drink at different places and get different amounts and brands of liquor and liquors each time. To always know where you stand calorically you can choose one or two ingredients that you know the measurements to get consistency. Here is where cocktail mixers and pre-mixed drinks give you an advantage when counting. For a truly Skinny Cosmopolitan recipe try using a sugar free mixer. A great Skinny Cosmopolitan recipe is made with Bevolution Good Spirits Sugar Free Mixers costs you only 104 calories. The uniqueness of this recipe is that you have 0g of sugars.

Good Spirits Cosmopolitan
1 ½ oz 80 proof vodka (96 calories)
1 oz Good Spirits Cranberry (<5 calories)
½ oz Good Spirits Sour Mix (0 calories)
1 Lime Wedge 1/8 slice (3 calories)

If you cut back on the alcohol to and up the mixers you can sip a cocktail for only 72 calories (1 ounce of 80 proof vodka has about 64 calories and the rest comes from form mixers and garnishes) Now that is Skinny Cosmopolitan Recipe!

So Cheers, enjoy and always remember to use alcohol responsibly.
For sugar free drink mixers visit GoodSpiritsMixers.com