By Jay Erisman, EQ Wine and Spirits Manager

Following our Rye discussion last week we now can look at the second ingredient in a Manhattan: vermouth.

Today we think of vermouth as a standby in every bar well, but there was a day when vermouth was the Big New Thing in American cocktails. The introduction of French, or dry, vermouth and Italian sweet vermouth in the 1870s brought a sea change to American cocktails and gave us the Manhattan, the Martinez, the Bronx, and eventually the Martini. In a real sense, vermouth was our first mixer.

In Dave Wondrich’s splendid new book Imbibe!—which might be the best history of the American cocktail ever written—the author describes the process whereby vermouth changed the cocktail from a potent and slightly sugared drink dominated by its base liquor, to a still-strong but supple and carefully balanced masterpiece. Writes Wondrich:

The author of the anonymous 1898 Cocktails: How to Make Them nailed it when he wrote, “The addition of Vermouth was the first move toward the blending of cocktails.” The Martini would ultimately be this new movement’s standard bearer, but it was the Manhattan that was the first out of the trenches.

And bartender and author extraordinaire Gary Regan (also the creator of an awfully nice “Orange Bitters No. 6”, more on that next week) places the Manhattan at the head of a whole class of drinks, the “French-Italian Family” which includes all those cocktails that hinge on a base spirit leavened with judicious amounts of vermouth. Clearly, our cocktail culture owes a huge debt to the 16^th century Italian d’Alessio who first marketed a medicinal wine along the lines of modern vermouth, (which in the Manhattan, might I add, clearly offers a medical benefit).

Vermouth is an aromatized wine, which indicates a wine which is flavored with various spices and herbs and fortified with a small amount of spirits. The word is derived from the German vermut, which refers to wormwood, the bitter herb that is the active ingredient in absinthe. I don’t think much wormwood makes it into vermouth today, but they do have just a whiff of something refreshingly bitter. Vermouth sprang up on either side of the Alps, with the French specializing in dry, white vermouth and the Italians on the other side making sweet red vermouth. For years these were referred to as “French” or “Italian,” never “sweet” or “dry.” Today, of course, any vermouth producer offers both types.

Did you know either sweet or dry vermouth can go in a Manhattan? Most Manhattans are made with sweet, but a dry Manhattan is nice too, and equal parts sweet and dry vermouth make a Manhattan “perfect,” so to speak. If Manhattans are too sweet for you, try replacing a little of the sweet with a little dry vermouth. And for goodness sake, DO NOT forgo the bitters.

Here are some favorite vermouths, mostly red but one white, too. These are best stored cold for freshness. I usually buy them in 375 ml bottles, but I usually keep a liter of Noilly Prat Dry on hand as my house dry vermouth and first call cooking wine:

Martini & Rossi Sweet:

Martini is the first call Manhattan vermouth around the world, with plenty of sweetness to plump up a cocktail. For me, it is a little too sweet for some cocktails; that said, I am never without some M&R in the liquor closet. $6.99

Noilly Prat Sweet and Dry:

Noilly Prat is the best basic vermouth we carry. The dry is a benchmark for dry vermouth. The red is a bit less sweet than the ubiquitous M&R, which is just the thing for a sweetish Bourbon.  $7.75

Carpano Punt Y Mes:

Carpano is credited as selling one of the very first vermouths, and they’ve been masters ever since. Their Punt Y Mes carries a much more powerful, honestly bitter and herbal flavor. This is really too much for a light whiskey—Maker’s Mark would be one example—and deserves something higher proof. Try it with Wild Turkey Rare Breed at 108 proof. I love Punt Y Mes! $16.49

Vya Sweet and Dry:

Vya comes from California’s Quady winery, famous for their dessert wines. Vya has a lot more flavor than most vermouths, and uses a higher quality base wine. It’s fun to play with Vya in different whiskies and bitter. $21.79

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2008 at 1:00 am and is filed under EQ. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.