Spirits: Entire Unexpurgated history of the Martini

Awright, I'll try a Martinez and a Vesper. My cocktail education has apparently been too selective.

Glad the class went well.

I tried a Martinez last night. Recipe was 2 oz. Carpano Antica, 1 oz. Tanqueray 10 (no Old Tom gin in the cabinet), dash of Luxardo Maraschino, and a dash of Angostura, shaken, served up, good cherry garnish. Despite the fact that my vermouth is a bit oxidized (what individual can use 1L of sweet vermouth in a couple months?), it was delicious. Definitely closer to Manhattan territory than Dry Martini, but given that I like both those drinks it's not surprising that I enjoyed it, though my wife did also, and she doesn't like either of them. I didn't find it unpleasantly sweet.

I read an exhaustive blog post from Adam Elmegirab's Jerry Thomas Project about the history of the Martinez. It seems like the Manhattan came first, with twice as much vermouth as whiskey, a ratio that's flipped to our senses. Then the Martinez was simple substitution with gin, which begat the Martini, where the ratio got closer to 1:1, and then the Dry Martini which substituted French (or Dry) vermouth. Interestingly, the Martini and Rossi company of Torino (Turin), Italy, was exporting its sweet vermouth for at least 20 years before the invention of the Martini, which they promoted but did not invent. Wacky.

History is never neat and tidy.

Glad you liked the Martinez. Now you need to try it with another vermouth. Carpano Antica is great stuff indeed, but it is 'vermouth alla vaniglia', and has a sizable amount of vanilla spice that most vermouths don't have. M&R or Cocchi might be good ones to try.

Re the oxidized Antica: I definitely feel your pain. Apparently, so do others; enough that Carpano has come out with small bottles of Antica.

I just made a Martinez, with Old Tom Gin. If you like Negronis, this should be in your wheelhouse, too.

I used a 1.5:1.5 ratio for the gin and sweet vermouth and 0.25 of Luxardo Maraschino.

Freakingly ridiculously good.

Re the oxidized Antica: I definitely feel your pain. Apparently, so do others; enough that Carpano has come out with small bottles of Antica.

I refrigerate my vermouth, though my wife is constantly badgering me about all the space I take up given that I have 3 wine cabinets at home. I haven't noticed any oxidization in the dry or sweet.

I have found I really enjoy vermouth on its own, too. The slippery slope.

Vermouth is coming (back) into its own after a long time as "just" an addition to cocktails. Well, it never really went away in Europe, but it wasn't exactly in high demand for many years. Changing now though, and more people are discovering they like it on its own. Actually, I like it with a heavy twist of lemon. It's also great for sorta toning down some of the more aggressive bitters out there...but then that usually leads you to a Negroni or three.

Just found a brand new vermouth---actually two, but I only bought one---at The Spanish Table in Berkeley. Visiting a friend on a quick trip and he turned me on to it: a vermouth from, of all places, Priorat. Priorat Natur Vermut. Amber colored,with a distinct tinge of bitterness, it's good by itself, but I want to try it in some cocktails. Or even better, get some really talented bartender friends to come up with some cocktails for it.

The one I didn't get was Martinez Lacuesta, from Rioja. They recco serving it on the rocks, with an orange slice and an olive.

[quote="James Dietz"]I used a 1.5:1.5 ratio for the gin and sweet vermouth and 0.25 of Luxardo Maraschino.
quote]
And what did you use for bitters?

History is never neat and tidy.

Glad you liked the Martinez. Now you need to try it with another vermouth. Carpano Antica is great stuff indeed, but it is 'vermouth alla vaniglia', and has a sizable amount of vanilla spice that most vermouths don't have. M&R or Cocchi might be good ones to try.

Re the oxidized Antica: I definitely feel your pain. Apparently, so do others; enough that Carpano has come out with small bottles of Antica.

Interesting, I didn't know M&R was regarded as a quality vermouth. That's another one I can get in halves, like the Antica, which I did manage to find just last week. I must have poured out $20 worth...

Yep, M&R is a decent quality vermouth, and very much in the Torino/Italian style. It's just that it is so ubiquitous as to be commonplace (and you know how some people think "big" equals "can't be good").

Of late they've upped their rep considerably with a one off celebratory "Gran Lusso" (Grand Luxury)---well, one off because it can't be replicated for about eight years. If you see one, snap it up; it's great stuff and hard to find.

Noilly Prat, the French vermouth, is also owned by M&R/Bacardi, and that's a very good, but drier "sweet" vermouth. They also came out with a new extension, the Ambre, which is sensational, but totally unlike any other vermouth you've likely had. Very spicy/sweet.

Little known trivia: originally, there was only "sweet" vermouth. It was all based on white wine, most aged in barrels out in the weather, and getting its color from the botanicals and oxidation. Then people, as usual, started asking for something drier---and dry white vermouth was born!

If you ever see the P.Quiles sweet vermouth from Spain (it's in the country but not widely distributed), you might taste it. It's that rarity of a sweet vermouth based on a red wine---a very rad wine: Mataro/Mourvedre. Has a different taste entirely, and lots of hip craft bartenders like how it performs in cocktails.

One last question, Hoke, where would you put the Dolin rouge? I like the dry version quite a lot, even though it doesn't make for great martinis. K&L describes the rouge as "Botanicals found in the Alpine meadows above Chamby are added to a base wine made from regional grapes to aromatize it, imparting fresh, herbal qualities to the nose and complex flavors to palate." which is pretty much worthless as far as characterizing the style.

Walt, Dolin is great! It is the last of the Chambery vermouths, once a very productive region for vermouths from the mountainous areas leading up to the Alps. It's the same place that the Carthusian monastery of Chartreuse liqueur fame is located, and some of those same botanicals that are in Chartreuse are in the vermouth. The mountain slopes are abundant with both natural/wild and farmed savory and aromatic botanicals.

In very general terms, there were essentially three main styles of vermouth: the Torino/Italian style, which tended to be sweeter and lighter and more silky (M&R); the Marseilles style (which now isn't made in Marseilles but the small town of Marseillan nearby) and represented by Noilly Prat, and the Chambery style, as represented by Dolin. And Dolin is also the only vermouth in France with an AOC, AOC Chambery.

As for taste/style, Dolin is drier and more structured than the Italian style, more savory, with some deeper, more complex, brooding and more bitter botanicals, more in the gentian-licorice mold. Bartenders love Dolin; it's great in a wide variety of cocktails, and adds some intriguing complexities to a drink.

There's also a "Chamberyzette" that is still made, although damned hard to find---it's essentially a very light vermouth steeped in freshly picked strawberries. It's great stuff, but never caught on here in the U.S., alack and alas.

Then there's Spain, which despite Spain being one of the biggest gin and vermouth-consuming countries in the world (and a prodigious producer of gin as well), the vermouth industry never quite made a big splash outside of Spain. They are just now getting some decent distribution. (If you ever go to Berkeley, Walt, drop by the Spanish Table---make it your third wine stop---and check out their excellent Spanish/Portugese selection, along with some really nice vermouths, some for sipping, some for cocktailing. And the aforementioned P. Quiles, which ulike other vermouths is based on red wine, specifically Mourvedre. Tasty stuff.

[quote=Hoke]If you ever go to Berkeley, Walt, drop by the Spanish Table---make it your third wine stop---and check out their excellent Spanish/Portugese selection, along with some really nice vermouths, some for sipping, some for cocktailing.[/quote]

Okay, Hoke, fess up. How did you know that I was in Berkeley last Saturday, at Premier Cru and Kermit Lynch? I suppose I could have gone to Spanish Table, though I really want to visit the Ordinaire wine bar. As it was I rushed off under the bay to a Dee Vine tasting at San Francisco Wine Trading Company.

Your spies must be everywhere.

Did you know I was loosely affiliated, on a contract basis, with Homeland Security?

Nah, no spies. Just know you well enough that I could easily predict you would be a habitue' of Kermit and Premier. Hey, if I lived down there, a goodly portion of my income would be going into those three stores in such deliciously close proximity to each other.

Wait, it does anyway.

Walt, Dolin is great! It is the last of the Chambery vermouths, once a very productive region for vermouths from the mountainous areas leading up to the Alps. It's the same place that the Carthusian monastery of Chartreuse liqueur fame is located, and some of those same botanicals that are in Chartreuse are in the vermouth. The mountain slopes are abundant with both natural/wild and farmed savory and aromatic botanicals.

In very general terms, there were essentially three main styles of vermouth: the Torino/Italian style, which tended to be sweeter and lighter and more silky (M&R); the Marseilles style (which now isn't made in Marseilles but the small town of Marseillan nearby) and represented by Noilly Prat, and the Chambery style, as represented by Dolin. And Dolin is also the only vermouth in France with an AOC, AOC Chambery.

As for taste/style, Dolin is drier and more structured than the Italian style, more savory, with some deeper, more complex, brooding and more bitter botanicals, more in the gentian-licorice mold. Bartenders love Dolin; it's great in a wide variety of cocktails, and adds some intriguing complexities to a drink.

There's also a "Chamberyzette" that is still made, although damned hard to find---it's essentially a very light vermouth steeped in freshly picked strawberries. It's great stuff, but never caught on here in the U.S., alack and alas.

Then there's Spain, which despite Spain being one of the biggest gin and vermouth-consuming countries in the world (and a prodigious producer of gin as well), the vermouth industry never quite made a big splash outside of Spain. They are just now getting some decent distribution. (If you ever go to Berkeley, Walt, drop by the Spanish Table---make it your third wine stop---and check out their excellent Spanish/Portugese selection, along with some really nice vermouths, some for sipping, some for cocktailing. And the aforementioned P. Quiles, which ulike other vermouths is based on red wine, specifically Mourvedre. Tasty stuff.

On a whim, I picked up a bottle of the Dolin. Now, I'm anxious to try it.

Good whim, Jim.