Perfect Cosmo

As a doctor, I know perfectly well and encourage everyone to enjoy alcoholic beverages in moderation.

However, if you do decide to have a drink, let it be a high quality drink, which is not necessarily obtained in an overpriced bar or restaurant. It can be prepared at home.

I, for one, enjoy an occasional Cosmopolitan.
For making it, you'll need:
1. 2 oz. of vodka. Don't believe those who said that the more expensive the vodka, the better your Cosmo. Price of vodka in your Cosmo has almost no bearing on the quality of your Cosmo. I select grain vodkas, though, for I never tried potato-based vodkas. You can go light on vodka and use only 1 oz. of it.
2. 1 oz. of cranberry juice. It has to be a pure cranberry juice, not those Ocean Spray cocktails.You can get it in any health food stores or Trader Joe's.
3. 1 oz. or Triple Sec or Cointreau/Grand Marnier . The latter is usually much more expensive than the former. I use Triple Sec.
4. 1/2 oz. of lime juice.- fresh is always better, but concentrate will do, too.

These ingredients needs to be shaken in a ... yes, a shaker with broken ice. You don't have to shell out a lot for a shaker- most liquor stores sell them for $5-10 ( I think they take them out of the liquor gift boxes and just sell them separately)
I take 4-5 cubes of ice and split them in halves using an ice pick (which always invokes the images from "Basic Instinct")
The whole mixture is to be shaken 10-15 times ( an English bartender guide suggests shaking until you hands are cold)
Pour it into a martini glass (again, can be obtained for a liquor store for cheap), straining the ice either through a built-in strainer, or through a separate strainer.
Enjoy!
You'll be amazed at how different this drink tastes from an $8 drink from that hip cocktail lounge.
I think it's because a bartender has a plastic jug under the counter with all the ingredients (except vodka) premixed in it. When the day (er..night!) is over, this jug goes into a fridge, until the next night.