When I started cocktail making back in the 80s I had a real downer on vermouths. Rubbish, cheap, uninspiring ingredients for out of fashion cocktails. Martini had a slightly naff image and the TV adverts for Martini were all about the Martini girl and the slightly dodgy strapline “anytime, anyplace, anywhere” that’s Martini. Have a look on You Tube to see the kitsch touch of the 80s, or late 70s.
I’ve written previously about the fact that you need representatives of the big 6 spirits and for balance 6 liqueur types if you want a balanced spirits and liqueurs collection. Well, vermouth is my 6th and final liqueur to complete the series. Yes, I know vermouth is a wine based aperitif drink and so therefore isn’t technically a liqueur. However, it is sweet and it is a key component of so many cocktails. Consequently, it deserves a place in any collection or on any back bar.
Vermouth updated
Today, vermouth and all it’s variants has grown up. It’s included in many classic and modern cocktail recipes.
I tend to use dry vermouth, sweet vermouth (many of my favourite cocktails contain sweet vermouth – Negroni, Manhattan, Tipping Point, Martinez) and rosato vermouth. I don’t use bianco simply because I don’t see it mentioned in enough great cocktail recipes.
Dry vermouth is white and the best ones seem to be French. Noilly Prat is my go-to brand. Originally it seems that France was synonymous with dry vermouth. So if you see a cocktail recipe which requires French vermouth, it means dry, white.
Sweet vermouth by contrast is often Italian and red in colour. Like my description of French meaning dry, so a recipe mentions Italian, vermouth, they mean the red sweet version.
Rose vermouth
Bearing in mind this is a wine product, as well as white and red, there is rose. I particularly like Martini Rosato. However, Martini as a brand seem to have already given up on rosato as well as the orange orientated Martini Fiero. Shame. See my article on my thoughts on that.
Rose (or rosato) is pink in colour and is therefore great for cocktails. It adds a lovely colour. So it goes well with Gin or Vodka if you’re creating something in a Martini style. Incidentally, for me any cocktail named a Martini must contain gin or possibly vodka, and ideally with some type of vermouth. So for me a French Martini which really doesn’t work flavour wise, also isn’t a Martini. Vodka, Chambord black raspberry and pineapple? Don’t think so.
English vermouths
Are there any English produced vermouths? There certainly are, albeit not many. I was keen to use some English vermouths for my cocktails and liked the idea of producing some English Martinis. Blackdown Spirits made a slightly sweet version of a white vermouth, from tree sap. It was unusual but like many other brands, since Covid, it has disappeared. It looks like it is now back, Blackdown Spirits.
The range I use and recommend is Sacred Spirits, based in London. The spiced red vermouth works well in my Spiced Negroni. A great cocktail for Christmas. Their range are pricey, but worth experimenting with to produce all English Martinis.
Bitter vermouths
There are also a range of aperitif ingredients which tend to be bitter. Either a little such as Aperol or full-on like Campari. I use a lot of these ingredients in cocktails. I struggled for a while with Punt e Mes – which is a red, Italian liqueur. Everything I made using it as a red vermouth was too bitter. Then I realised that the name Punt e Mes means ‘point and a half’ the idea being that the drink is one part vermouth, half a part bitter. That realisation made all the difference. I now use Punt e Mes in cocktails which are too sweet or cloying with conventional red vermouth. Improves them no end. I have also added a little sugar syrup to balance out the Punt e Mes and to stop the drink being too bitter.
A little 37.5 cl bottle of Antica Formula is also worth experimenting with. Antica is a rich colour and rich full flavour which reminds me of Port. That got me thinking about the whole idea of using port instead of vermouth in some cocktails. But that’s got to be a whole different subject and a whole different blog article.