Carrie Bradshaw Made This Cocktail Famous

James Bond may have made the vodka martini cool, but Carrie Bradshaw turned a largely unknown cocktail, the cosmopolitan, into a modern classic. While drinks like martinis and mojitos have been around for basically forever, according to Punch Drink, the type of cosmopolitan that Carrie Bradshaw drinks in "Sex and the City" wasn't around until 1988, when bartender Toby Cecchini completely reinvented the one that had been a staple in gay bars in San Francisco in the mid '80s.

While the original cosmopolitan consisted of rail vodka, Rose's lime juice, and Rose's grenadine, Cecchinis' cosmopolitan, the one that Carrie Bradshaw popularized through "Sex and the City," was made with Cointreau, fresh lime juice, Citron, and Cape Codders cranberry juice. Ten years after the cocktail's debut, "Sex and the City" aired, and by the second episode of season two — Carrie Bradshaw's birthday, to be specific — it made its first appearance on the show (via Refinery 29). From then on, it was more than just Carrie Bradshaw who was saying "Another cosmopolitan please" at bars across New York City.

While margaritas have always been known as a classic girls' night out cocktail, cosmopolitans take on an entirely different, more sophisticated personality, despite both being considered "girly" drinks. It's only because of the Carrie Bradshaw character that having a cosmopolitan in hand is associated with being glamorous and fun, yet independent and successful.

Jennifer Keishin Armstrong, author of the book "Sex and the City and Us," explained to Refinery 29 that cosmopolitans are well-loved because drinking one creates an experience. It allows you to feel like you're getting a literal taste of Carrie Bradshaw's fabulous New York life.

"There's certain things on the show that you couldn't do, because the costs were prohibitive," Armstrong told Refinery29, "but something like a cupcake or a Cosmo was something you could afford." Essentially the drink became an attainable version of "Sex and the City" for whoever wanted to try it, and that reputation has stuck to this day. Despite the show being off the air for several years, the cosmopolitan remains as popular as it was in 1999 when Carrie Bradshaw took her first televised sip.