Spirit bottle sizes

[Joakim Östlund Andersson]

Was wondering if, eg a spirit or the likes bottled in a smaller bottle would turn out different then in a bigger bottle?

It's a wierd and minor practicality but was planning to buy some vermouth and atleast here in sweden they come in 375 ml(~12.5 oz) bottles aswell as 750ml(~25oz).

Seeing you want to keep it fresh and thus buying the smaller bottle instead of the big one this 'practicality' sparked my interrest. Atleast in my case as I'm not(yet ;>)

a serious consumer of vermouth just having to drink a small bit of it before it gets old outweighs the fact that bigger bottles obviously looks better on the shelf.

Probably a silly question but thought it would be easily answered here.

Thanks on beforehand for any answers

Regards Joakim

[Chris Amirault]

I buy 375 ml bottles of vermouth as a matter of course, for exactly the reasons you give: it goes bad after a while, and I rarely make my way through 750 ml in time.

[Paul Bacino]

I buy the green bottle for cooking...and have yet to worry about oxidation

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[KD1191]

I think the biggest effect of spirit bottle sizes is how they function in a bar setting. Flashy or unique designs are eye-catching, but some shapes and sizes are difficult to work with, and that can hurt them. Ransom Old Tom had an attractive apothecary style bottle, but I get the impression it didn't work well in a professional setting as the packaging has since been redesigned resulting in a (less attractive, to me) tall, skinny bottle.

Edited January 16, 2011 by KD1191 (log)

[jsmeeker]

For vermouth, I buy it in the 375 ml. bottle. For spirits, I get the 750 ml for most items, and occasionally 375 for certain "specialty" ones if available. While a 1.5 liter bottle is more economical, the physical size presents a few issues for me. One is storage space. I can't store really big bottles in the space I have. For one, they are probably too tall to fit in the cabinet (some 750 ml bottles have this issue, too). The other issue with storage is that I can fit less different types of spirits in the same space if I used big bottles. Next, there is the handling issue. It can be pretty awkward to pour accurately one handed with them.

[Kent Wang]

I used to buy 1.75s and store them somewhere else and have 750s in the bar area. When they ran out I would refill from the 1.75. Save a lot of money that way.

Oddly enough, I don't think I've seen a single 1.75 in China.

[EvergreenDan]

Alas, I can't find my favorite vermouths in 375ml. M&R and sometimes Dolin are the only ones I've found. I don't know where the availability issue is in the supply chain.

I refrigerate and evacuate. I also try to rotate among things like Carpano Antica, Punt e Mes, Cocchi Americano, Lillet, Bonal Gentaine Quina, Fino sherry, Amontillado sherry and so forth so that I don't have too many bottles open at once. I wish all of these came in reasonably-priced 375ml sizes.

As for bottle shapes, yes, I don't like fat, short bottles because they use a lot of shelf space. I also don't like too tall, either, although I've customized the shelf to hold Luxardo Maraschino. Anything taller gets poured into another bottle or stored elsewhere.

Clear Creek Oregon Cranberry Liqueur is in a particularly irritating bottle.

There is a related issue of enthusiasts wanting to have a small quantity of a large variety of things. 375ml bottles would help. I held a "liquor swap" to achieve this. I "sold" some things that I have a lifetime supply of (Creme de Violette) and "bought" some things that I wanted to try (Luxardo Fernet). I had hoped that vermouths and the like would be popular, but no one in this group wanted to swap wine-based things.

Edited January 16, 2011 by EvergreenDan (log)

[Tri2Cook]

I generally stick with 750ml if it's available except for vermouth which I get in 375ml. Green Chartreuse is only available in 375ml in Ontario so there's no decision to make on that one but it would be 750ml if I had the option. The absinthe I have only comes in 500ml and some of the liqueurs I have only come in 375ml so those are non-decisions as well. I figure if it's something there's not a specific need to turn over quickly, the 750ml means it's that much longer until I need to buy it again. I don't have the space to go with larger bottles and the majority of things aren't available in larger sizes here (in my hometown, not Ontario in general) anyway. Bottle shape doesn't matter to me, I never have a long enough line at my house that being able to pour comfy and fast is an issue.

[Chris Amirault]

The real killer is the 1l Carpano Antica Formula bottle....

[Joakim Östlund Andersson]

The real killer is the 1l Carpano Antica Formula bottle....

Yeah was planning to polish my vermouth drinking and have that one standing looking good til my skills have excelled that

of atleast five manhattan-gulpers and worst case scenario I'll probably have some friends chip in

Anyhow guess 375 cl is going to be the way to go for me regarding the home-bar, less bottle size but I'll compensate with

the surprise that to make good cocktails size doesn't matter! Should keep both me and the guests satisfied

Will name-drop "Vacu Vin" to protect your vermouth(and wine in general) from oxidation aswell as looking at

Jamie Bodreu on Vermouth

That's where I got "Vacu Vin" from and haven't experimented that much with the ratio but can imagine it helps to consume a bit

extra vermouth seeing all the mixology joy you'll get out of it

[Kent Wang]

Dan, what I do is save all my empty 375 bottles and when I open a new big bottle I immediately decant them into the 375s and vacuum out the air. I read that this strategy works well for wine, so I imagine it should as well for vermouth.

[haresfur]

No 375 ml vermouth bottles here. When I open a new large bottle of vermouth, I've been filling a clean beer bottle nearly to the brim and capping it with a home brew capper. A Grolsch bottle with a ceramic cap would be easier, but I gave all mine away when I moved. Need to try the vaccu-vin for the active supply.