xlucent

You can indeed get Cocchi Americano although availability depends on where you live. I get it in the Washington, DC area with no difficulty. You can also get Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, which is a more bitter, less sweet vermouth. It might be about midway between Cocchi Americano and Campari; less sweet than the Cocchi Americano, less bitter than Campari. It's great on the rocks with a slice of orange. I've been drinking quite a lot of vermouth for the past few years, usually on the rocks, and recently started making my own sweet and dry vermouths. If anyone else here is making house vermouths, I'd love to hear about your techniques or favorite recipes. bill

Hmmm... five years since the last post in this topic, so I'm wondering if anyone has been making artisanal vermouths or other aperitifs lately. If so, would you be willing to share pointers or recipes? I've been making an assortment of liqueurs for home use for a few years now but haven't tried my hand at aperitifs yet. That needs to change and soon; now that the weather has warmed up, we're going through a fair quantity of Cocci Americano in the evenings lately and I can't find a source for it here in northeast Ohio. I also recently tasted a sample of Johnny Monis' house-made vermouth at Little Serow in DC (thanks Jill!) and am suffering from vermouth envy.

For myself, I'd have to say that Komi is my absolute favorite restaurant in DC. Possibly my absolute favorite restaurant anywhere. I eat there at least once a month and have never been anything but blown away by the absolute perfection of every course. As Busboy said, sometimes it's "an olive with cheese", but it's a house-cured olive so fresh that you can taste the wind blowing through the olive grove on the Costa del Sol. Get the tasting menu with matching wines.