Vermouth

[LabelKing]

Do you like vermouth?

I think it's an underappreciated drink although its status as an apÃ

ritif is perhaps here to stay.

 

[Kent Wang]

I have bottles from Boissiere and Noilly Prat. I drink a lot of martinis.

 

[LabelKing]

I prefer red vermouth.

 

[j]

White vermouth tastes a lot like sake. I've never tried red.

Does vermouth go bad after a period of time? I'm guessing yes, but I don't know how long.

 

[Kent Wang]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

I prefer red vermouth.
For sipping on its own, yes. When in a pinch, one can substitute a vermouth with wine and a generous dash of bitters.

 

[Nantucket Red]

For martinis, I prefer Lillet blanc, which I also prefer to any other apperatif. It makes a rather wet martini, so if you stand on ceremony about dryness, give it a miss.

I haven't explored vermouth as much as I'd like to yet, but my motto is "I'd rather be a good liver than have one."

Any suggestions for an aspiring lush?

 

[Tomasso]

My favorite is Noilly Prat Sweet Vermouth.

 

[SGladwell]

To drink straight, I prefer bianco vermouth, which is white but different from "dry". Got hooked on it as an ignorant 17 year old in Europe for the summer; I thought that when I was ordering "Martini Bianco" that I was ordering an actual martini, and continued to think so until I went off to college a year later and began drinking in earnest. It's relatively hard to find in the US, unfortunately. Not even all liquor stores carry it, though they invariably have rosso and dry. Around here the only varieties of bianco available are Martini & Rossi and Cinzano. I prefer the former.

 

[Tyto]

Noilly Prat is my standard, but a friend of mine introduced me to Vya vermouth, which is pretty difficult to find but well worth the effort.

 

[Kent Wang]

Vya costs $20 while Noilly Prat, Boissiere and Martini & Rossi are below $5. Do you really think it's worth the premium? I asked my liquor store guy and he thinks that Vya is all marketing. I bought a bottle once to try it out but I dropped it on my driveway.

 

[j]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

Vya costs $20 while Noilly Prat, Boissiere and Martini & Rossi are below $5. Do you really think it's worth the premium? I asked my liquor store guy and he thinks that Vya is all marketing. I bought a bottle once to try it out but I dropped it on my driveway.
It's probably for the best Kent, you know how we feel about drinking and driving!

 

[SGladwell]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

Vya costs $20 while Noilly Prat, Boissiere and Martini & Rossi are below $5. Do you really think it's worth the premium? I asked my liquor store guy and he thinks that Vya is all marketing. I bought a bottle once to try it out but I dropped it on my driveway.

Below $5? Damn. Around here the going rate is $8 or $9.

 

[LabelKing]

China also has a red vermouth by Changyu Winery, which apparently won the Gold Medal at the Panama International World's Fair in 1915.

 

[countdemoney]

Originally Posted by LabelKing

Do you like vermouth?

I find that merely glancing at the vermouth bottle while mixing a martini imparts a great flavor.

 

[Tyto]

Originally Posted by Kent Wang

Vya costs $20 while Noilly Prat, Boissiere and Martini & Rossi are below $5. Do you really think it's worth the premium? I asked my liquor store guy and he thinks that Vya is all marketing. I bought a bottle once to try it out but I dropped it on my driveway.
The cost difference is a bit less near me: Noilly costs around $7-8 and Vya can be had for $15 (IIRC). Still, it's not necessarily worth the premium all the time--in the same sense that I don't (can't) always drink premium single malts--but I *really* enjoyed it and have no trouble justifying keeping some around for a special occasion or mood.