Barfly 201: Vermouth and Why Ordering a “Bone-Dry Martini” Makes You Sound Silly
A type of aperitif, vermouths are essentially aromatized, fortified wines (I’ll explain that a bit more in a minute). The word vermouth is derived from the German word for wormwood (the unjustly infamous ingredient in absinthe), “wermut,”which was one of the botanicals commonly added to vermouths. Wikipedia says that fortified wines with wormwood as the principal ingredient were being produced in Germany dating back to the 16th century, and while I don’t particularly trust Wikipedia when it comes to spirits*, that seems to make sense with the etymology of “vermouth.”
Vermouth producers basically take a wine, blend it with mistelle (sweetened grape juice or brandy), and steep a bunch of weird herbs and other botanicals (think gin) in the mix for a couple of weeks. Then they strain the herbs and junk, emulsify the now-aromatized brandy and wine together, pasteurize it, and let it sit in the fridge for another couple of weeks. The refrigeration allows impurities to crystallize and then be filtered out. NB: Keep your vermouths refrigerated at home – they have a relatively low alcohol content and it’ll keep their flavor longer.
