Vermouth – The Versatile Drink
Vermouth – The Versatile Drink
For thousands of years, people have been flavouring wines and spirits with herbs and roots. Vermouth is an aromatized wine, fortified with alcohol and flavoured with various spices and herbs, roots, seeds, flowers, you name it! The name derives from one of the ingredients, wormwood, which translates wermut in German. Wormwood is a bitter herb that was employed medicinally for centuries and is still an ingredient in some brands of vermouth. The first commercial vermouth appeared in late-eighteenth-century Italy and similar to what we called sweet vermouth today. All vermouths become darker in colour as they age, and the variations have nothing to do with quality. There is an enormous difference in the blending and resultant flavour of the top brands available. France and Italy are the most important producers of vermouth on the global market. Being fortified, all last a long time (many months) once they have been opened. Vermouth is very versatile, among other uses, it is very useful in cooking.
There are four types of vermouth:
DRY – It is always white and also known as French vermouth. It is typically made from dry white wine that produces delicate, dry and crisp style with herbal taste. This type is popular to enjoy on its own over ice. Dry vermouth is the essential mixer in the Classic Martini.
BIANCO – It is similar to dry, bianco vermouth offers a medium-sweet flavour with mild herbal taste.
ROSÉ – It has a pinkish colour. It is similar to white vermouth, and the colour comes from a short contact with the grape skins. This style is often off-dry.
SWEET – usually red. This sweeter style is also known as Italian vermouth. Sweet vermouth is more heavily aromatized, heavier in base and richly flavoured. The end flavour tends to have a slightly bitter taste. Two of the most popular cocktails, Rob Roy and Manhattan are made with sweet vermouth.
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Vermouth rosso