Ina Garten's Big Batch Cosmopolitans Have A Super Easy Ratio

One of the luxuries of going out for cocktails is ordering a drink that's custom-made for you. When you're entertaining at home, however, making drinks one at a time is ridiculously time-consuming, especially if you're not a master mixologist. Batch cocktails are the best, whether they're for a crowd or for an evening in for two when you'd rather do something else than fiddle with measuring out ingredients.

And the Barefoot Contessa is the queen of batch cocktails. Whether you caught her on Instagram with a giant martini glass during the pandemic or you're simply searching for a great recipe for Cosmopolitans in mass quantities, Ina Garten has your formula. It's easy. It's foolproof. It doesn't require any crazy ingredients, and it's a ratio you'll be able to easily remember. The ratio for Garten's batch Cosmo is: 2 cups of good vodka, 1 cup of Cointreau (or any orange liqueur), 1 cup of cranberry juice cocktail, and ½ cup of fresh-squeezed lime juice.

The delightful thing about the perfect cocktail ratio is that it gives you the ability to scale your cocktail easily, whether you're shooting for a smaller batch or a larger one. Not only does Garten's ratio give you a deliciously balanced cocktail, but it's also a springboard for customization. Should you decide you want to serve up a Metropolitan, rather than a Cosmopolitan, you can simply substitute black currant vodka for straight vodka without changing your proportions.

Swapping ingredients to alter the flavor or color of your batch cocktail is simple once you have a ratio you're confident in. If you have an event for which you want two hues of Cosmos, you could make a batch of pretty pink cocktails using Garten's original ratio and ingredients, and it would be a cinch to make a blue batch by substituting white cranberry juice cocktail for the red and swapping blue Curaçao for the Cointreau. 

Or, if you want to play with the flavor rather than the color, you could substitute watermelon juice for cranberry juice for a summery Cosmopolitan twist. Garten's simple-to-scale Cosmo recipe makes the perfect batch cocktail, whether you're true to her original or want to get creative with it.