Building The Home Bar: Vermouth
Dstudio Bcn
Vermouth is mysterious to most, relegated to the dark corners of the local bar, patiently waiting for its next call to action. However, there has been a pleasant artisanal craft cocktail resurgence that is slowly shining a light back on this historic bar staple. Vermouth is not a distilled or brewed beverage, but a wine that has been fortified, meaning alcohol is added to it to raise the ABV (alcohol by volume). This fortified wine is made with many spices, roots, and herbs which give it a complex and bitter profile, making it a great addition to many classic cocktails like the martini, for instance.
To be considered a Vermouth, it must contain plants from the Artemisia genus family. These plants (most commonly wormwood) are fragrant annual herbs that give Vermouth its staple bitter taste. According to Science Direct, these plants are commonly distributed in Asia, Europe, and North America with ties to traditional Chinese medicine that dates back to 168 B.C. Along with Artemisia, there are dozens of different botanicals that producers use to make their Vermouth which can be extracted using distillation or maceration methods. A few examples of these botanicals include bitter (wormwood and licorice root), citrus (lemon and lime peel), herbal (ginger and coriander), and spice (vanilla, star anise, and clove).
This incredibly aromatic beverage is as complex as it is versatile. Vermouth is commonly used in classic cocktails like the Negroni for roundness, a Manhattan for some spice, and the Martini for pleasant floral notes. Wine Folly shares that the addition of vanilla, butter, soda, or tonic is commonly added to accentuate the natural flavor of Vermouth in a simple yet refreshing beverage. For those curious in tasting Vermouth at its purest form, Wine Folly suggests serving it with a bit of soda water and a twist of lemon.
Vermouth: The Revival of The Spirit that Created America’s Cocktail Culture by Adam Ford is the first comprehensive study into the history of Vermouth, a drink that has influential ties reaching nearly 8,000 years ago during the Neolithic period in China. During this period a common prototype of Vermouth was enjoyed; a wine that is mixed with different botanicals drunk for health benefits and leisure. However, it wasn’t until 1786 when Antonio Benedetto Carpano of Turin, Italy first commercialized the present-day idea of Vermouth, something he called ‘wermut’ or ‘wormwood’ in German. This fortified, aromatized wine called ‘wermut’ is an homage to the plant ‘wormwood’ from the Artemisia plant family mentioned earlier.
As Culinary Historians of New York explains, Vermouth excitedly spread across the Atlantic, with many new producers emerging, to the World’s Fair in 1853, held in New York City. During the 1860’s Vermouth slowly incorporated into the New York bar scene as a more sophisticated way of drinking. From here, many new cocktails using Vermouth emerged making a lasting imprint on the craft cocktail scene, one that is surely around today. The decline of Vermouth started after the Second World War due to an overarching anti-Italian sentiment that affected the quality of domestically made and exported Vermouth. Today, more specifically a decade ago, Vermouth is again met with open arms as the artisanal cocktail world finds its strong pulse from all those years ago.
Wine Folly states that Vermouth is required to be 75% wine, typically white, while the remaining portion is a careful blend of botanicals, sugar, and alcohol. This blend differs from recipe to recipe according to each producer, like Martini and Rossi, whose recipes have been carefully guarded throughout the years. Basically, Vermouth is made by taking a base wine and adding sugar or a mistelle (alcohol plus fresh grape juice). Then, a botanical blend recipe is added and, if need be, more alcohol to bring the Vermouth up to proper ABV (alcohol by volume) which is around 16-22% for most Vermouths.
Vermouth should be refrigerated after opening and should be drunk anywhere between 3 weeks to a few months, depending on the style. When aromatized wines are involved, three main styles are produced. There is Sweet Vermouth (sweet and red), Dry Vermouth (dry and white), and last but not least Blanc Vermouth (sweet and white), all offering different flavors and characteristics to cocktails, Wine Folly simply explains.
6 common cocktails with Vermouth
Jeffery Porter, a veteran of the wine world and somewhat of a Vermouth aficionado, talks with Jason Wise in an episode of SOMM TV about the “criminally misunderstood beverage known as Vermouth.” Jason agrees that having a bottle of Vermouth in your home bar is arguably the most pertinent when classic cocktails are involved, and the utilization of Vermouth is way less daunting than many are led to believe. “So, if you were to have two Vermouths in your house today, I would buy a half bottle of Dolin blanc extra dry and a half bottle of Carpano Antica,” Jeffery shares.
Dolin dry Vermouth, or Vermouth de Chambéry, is essential for bartenders around the world and plays a huge role in James Bond’s favorite drink, the martini. The producer of this Vermouth describes it as “slightly sweet, with a subtle golden tint, our dry vermouth has a generous and rich nose with hints of citrus bark underscored by the freshness of menthol and balsamic notes. Almond and stone fragrances dominate the slightly bitter citrus base and bring balance to our lively and fine dry Vermouth de Chambéry.” You can purchase this powerhouse bar addition at Total Wine for only $13.
Carpano Antica is unmistakably the ‘OG’ of Vermouth recipes as it is from the Godfather himself, Antonio Benedetto Carpano. This Vermouth is made from white Italian grapes from Romagna, Puglia and Sicily regions that are specifically selected to meld well with the herbs, spices, and roots that make up the now Fratelli Branca Distillerie secret recipe. The producer states this Vermouth has a “well-rounded, rich vanilla taste that picks up the aromas from the nose and combines well with the bitter orange, dates, cocoa beans and saffron flavors.” You can find this Vermouth at Total Wine for $38.
