Peruse the cocktail menu at any hot bar or restaurant right now and you might wonder if you’ve stumbled into a time-travel portal on your way back from the restroom. Are they really featuring … the cosmo? In the year 2026?
The answer is a resounding yes — Toronto’s tastemakers are thinking pink. Several decades after its “Sex and the City”-fuelled heyday in the early 2000s, the classic blend of vodka, Cointreau, cranberry and lime is trending once more.
Who’s slinging cosmos?
The cocktail has popped up everywhere of late, from chichi steakhouses (Blue Bovine Steak + Sushi House) and swanky lounges (Aera) to hip west-end spots (Bar Banane, Milou and Bar Pompette).
Linny’s keeps a freezer version on hand. Bar Ardo is launching one for spring with Favignana Sicilian gin and limoncello. Cry Baby Gallery’s clarified variation sports grape soju, peach and tonka bean. Burdock Brewery’s short cocktail menu includes a bottled cosmo from Civil Pours, an offshoot of Nick Kennedy’s Toronto booze institution Civil Liberties. At Civil Liberties itself, the bartenders are asked for cosmos so often, they started offering them on tap.
Simpl Things bar manager Morgan McLaughlin pinpoints the start of the trend as late 2024. She began noticing a resurgence in ‘90s and early-2000s cocktail culture across a handful of bars, including “simpler menu items, and a lot more riffs on classics from that era,” she says. “The cosmo felt like an inevitable part of that wave.”
Soon, the Simpl Things group chat lit up with answers to the question: how do we make cosmos cool again? An entire ‘90s-themed menu was born, anchored by a section called “Cosmos and Company,” featuring two variations. The Simpl Cosmo swaps traditional cranberry juice for a winter-spiced cherry cordial and a hint of sherry, while Persephone’s Reign is a gin-based take that uses Verjus as the acidic element and a cherry-pomegranate cordial for a slightly richer, more botanical flavour profile. The result? The cosmos section is the most popular they’ve ever had. “People love the pink,” McLaughlin says, “and they love an easy-drinking cocktail.”
The cosmo is also one of the most frequently ordered cocktails at Martine’s Wine Bar. People often start their evening with one, says co-owner Hailey Burke, who kicks off her own nights out with one at the bar before going to an event or dinner with her partner or girlfriends. “It feels celebratory.” The Martine’s cosmo is one of the city’s most delicious cocktails; it’s clarified with milk, which creates more of a sour profile, balanced out with lime and sugar.
Why are cosmos back on the menu?
“There’s a tendency to cycle back through decades with fashion, and food and drinks seem to also cheekily follow suit,” says Burke, who also co-owns Bar Raval. “You’re seeing it in fashion, with Sarah Jessica Parker from the OG ‘Sex and the City’ styling, and now with Carolyn Bessette Kennedy and JFK Jr.”
Restaurant and bar design, too, is referencing the “go big” approach of early aughts nightlife. “Restaurateurs seem to be conscious that people do want a ‘night out,’ where everything is more carefully considered and less slapdash,” Burke says. “I think you see a return to the golden years, which naturally includes cocktails from that era.”
This trend is rife with Millennial nostalgia. Gen Z is drinking less or turning to alternatives like cannabis, says Jacob Wesley Martin, executive bar director with Liberty Entertainment Group, “so as millennials are entering their 30s and 40s, they’re driving many drinking trends.”
When dining-out dollars are being carefully conserved, ordering a familiar fave can feel like a safe bet. “People want to know what they’re getting into when they look at a cocktail menu,” says McLaughlin, adding that the cosmo feels both nostalgic and fresh at the same time, a hard balance to strike. “They know they’re putting their money toward something they’re going to enjoy, which is important in today’s economy.” Plus, she says, “it’s pink!”
Martin agrees. “I think the public is desperate for cocktails that don’t seem so serious — especially those that read like a biology textbook,” she says. “Also, if you are going to spend $25 on a cocktail, many people do not want to gamble on something they do not understand; they just want a good, honest cocktail.”
Will the cosmo endure?
Inevitably, the cosmo will have its moment — and then a new trend will take its place. “In today’s TikTok culture, it’s hard to predict how long anything stays in the public eye before we collectively move on to the next big thing,” McLaughlin says. “But the cosmo is popular right now for good reason. While it may not dominate menus by name for more than a few years, I think you’ll always be able to find it in some form: under a different name, with a slightly different recipe, a new spirit or a seasonal twist. Classics have a way of sticking around if you know how to find them.”
She’s hopeful that cosmos will go the way of the espresso martini: both are great showcases for vodka, both tap into joyful nostalgia, and both are genuinely fun to drink. “The espresso martini went from being a bit of a punchline to a permanent fixture on menus everywhere,” McLaughlin says. “I’d love to see the cosmo get that same redemption arc.”
