Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide

The legends surrounding the creation of the Cosmopolitan span multiple decades and numerous celebrities. It has generally been credited to one of two different bartenders, but a primitive version of this drink actually appeared on Ocean Spray cranberry juice labels around 1968. The Harpoon, as they called it, didn't call for Cointreau or triple sec though, and would have yielded a very bitter cocktail indeed. The Cosmo as we know it became popular in gay culture during the 70s and 80s and was picked up by a bartender at the Odeon in Manhattan in 1987. The Odeon was a well-known celebrity watering hole and was frequented by a number of stars. The Cosmo then made its way to the Rainbow Room, where Madonna famously posed with one. When HBO began featuring the cocktail on Sex and the City, mainstream culture latched on, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Makes 18 to 20 servings

The Ramos Gin Fizz is one of New Orleans's most famous cocktails. When Henry C. Ramos invented this cocktail in 1888 at the Imperial Cabinet Saloon, his recipe called it to be shook for 12 minutes straight. To keep up with the demand, Mr. Ramos kept at least 20 people behind the bar making nothing but Ramos Gin Fizzes at all times. During certain festivals and holidays, he was known to have up to 32. After the end of Prohibition, this cocktail was revived, but the 12-minute shake time was left in the grave. It has a particularly frothy body as well as a remarkably sweet floral note imparted by the orange blossom water.