Vermouth in Martinis

[Norm Matthews]

I should have said Lillet blanc is a French vermouth.  It's dry.  I like a little green olive brine added to a vodka martini. 

[Duvel]

Back to your question: as vodka does not contribute much flavorwise I'd like to combine it with more complex fortified wines. Lillet blanc is a good addition if you like the bitterness of chinchona. Noilly Prat, Dolin are usually also easy to come by and if you are lucky and find a bottle of Yzaguirre - that makes a great vodka Martini.

Edited July 4, 2015 by Duvel (log)

[Adam George]

I should have said Lillet blanc is a French vermouth.  It's dry.  

 

No it's not and no, it's not.

[slkinsey]

If you only have this drink once or twice a year, you're going to have a hard time with the vermouth.  Six month old dry vermouth is most certainly past its prime, even if you keep it in the refrigerator throughout.  And if the vermouth isn't in good condition, it really doesn't matter all that much which one you use.  All of which is to say that it's impossible to give you advice as to the best vermouth for your drink if your plan is to acquire a bottle and then dole it out on the order of an ounce each year until it's empty.

 

So... first order of business if you're really only having this drink twice a year is to crack open a brand new bottle of dry vermouth every time.  Luckily dry vermouth is quite inexpensive and it is often possible to get it in smaller-sized bottles. Noilly Prat Extra Dry is very widely available, and it is also a pretty good one.  So that's what I'd go with if I were you.  If you look hard enough you might even be able to find it in mini-bottles.  If not, the nice thing about dry French vermouth is that it's great for cooking.

[Shel_B]

If you only have this drink once or twice a year, you're going to have a hard time with the vermouth.  Six month old dry vermouth is most certainly past its prime, even if you keep it in the refrigerator throughout.  And if the vermouth isn't in good condition, it really doesn't matter all that much which one you use.  All of which is to say that it's impossible to give you advice as to the best vermouth for your drink if your plan is to acquire a bottle and then dole it out on the order of an ounce each year until it's empty.

 

So... first order of business if you're really only having this drink twice a year is to crack open a brand new bottle of dry vermouth every time.  Luckily dry vermouth is quite inexpensive and it is often possible to get it in smaller-sized bottles. Noilly Prat Extra Dry is very widely available, and it is also a pretty good one.  So that's what I'd go with if I were you.  If you look hard enough you might even be able to find it in mini-bottles.  If not, the nice thing about dry French vermouth is that it's great for cooking.

 

Wasn't necessarily thinking about buying a bottle of vermouth, rather, choosing a brand or style at a restaurant or pub.  I sometimes use vermouth in cooking, but that's not very often.  Can't recall when I last used the bottle I have now ... it's Noilly Pratt French Dry I believe.

 

It's nice to know vermouth doesn't keep well for long periods ... thanks!

[Deryn]

If you are talking about only ordering in a restaurant or pub, perhaps all you need to do is order 'top shelf' (and then if you like it, ask them what they poured).

[Norm Matthews]

No it's not and no, it's not.

http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=1810

 

Category(s):     Vermouth 

Producer: Lillet   -   www.lillet.com 

ABV:   17%

Brand:   Lillet

Colour:   White

Country of Origin:   France

Type:   Dry

Edited July 17, 2015 by Norm Matthews (log)

[sbumgarner]

http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=1810

 

Category(s):     Vermouth 

Producer: Lillet   -   www.lillet.com 

ABV:   17%

Brand:   Lillet

Colour:   White

Country of Origin:   France

Type:   Dry

 

Most liquor shops aren't going to have a "Quinquina" section, so they put in the vermouth category. Lillet is definitely not a vermouth, but it's related. And to Adam's point, it is certainly not dry in flavor, regardless of their type classification. A martini made with Dolin Dry or Noilly Prat Dry would taste very different than one made with Lillet.

 

This site does a good job explaining the differences between vermouth and other fortified/aromatized wines.

 

http://vermouth101.com/

[EvergreenDan]

http://vermouth101.com/

 

Yes. Excellent resource.

 

Don't trust a liquor store's website. Trust mine.  

http://www.kindredcocktails.com/ingredient/lillet

[slkinsey]

Wasn't necessarily thinking about buying a bottle of vermouth, rather, choosing a brand or style at a restaurant or pub.

The chances are extremely slim that a restaurant or pub that doesn't have a fancy cocktails program will have more than one brand of dry French vermouth. If you say that you want a vodka Martini, you're going to get whatever dry French vermouth they have. Most any restaurant or pub you would want to make you a Martini will have one bottle of dry vermouth for Martinis and one bottle of swee vermouth for Manhattans. There's no need to worry that they're going to put the sweet vermouth in your drink. But there is also no reason to say "gimme a vodka Martini with Stoli and Dolin Dry" because you're just going to get Tribuno or Noilly Prat or Cinzano or Stock or whatever it is that they stock. Of far greater importance is how frequently they cycle through the stuff -- I'd much rather have fresh Tribuno than Dolin out of a bottle that's been sitting on the back bar with a pour top for nine months -- and for this you have to use your own good sense. Frankly, most places that don't have a well developed cocktail program (and even plenty that do) are going to put such an infinitesimal dose of vermouth in there that it hardly matters.

[tanstaafl2]

Frankly, most places that don't have a well developed cocktail program (and even plenty that do) are going to put such an infinitesimal dose of vermouth in there that it hardly matters.

 

Although if they truly have a well developed cocktail program and you tell them up front you want a more traditional Martini (sometimes called a "wet " Martini I think), in some cases back in the day it would be as much as a 3 or even 2 to 1 gin/vermouth ratio (often with a dash of orange bitters), then that is what you should get! If they won't make that then there is some question in my mind whether it is truly a "well developed" cocktail program to me.

 

I even occasionally have a reverse or upside down martini with as much or more vermouth as gin if I am looking for something a little lighter.

[Adam George]

http://www.thedrinkshop.com/products/nlpdetail.php?prodid=1810

 

Category(s):     Vermouth 

Producer: Lillet   -   www.lillet.com 

ABV:   17%

Brand:   Lillet

Colour:   White

Country of Origin:   France

Type:   Dry

 

 

Vermouth requires wormwood, as others have pointed out.

 

Also, for reference Martini Dry contains 30g sugar per litre, to Lillet's 87g.

 

I find Lillet pretty sweet as it's not far off the sugar content required to be a liqueur,  YMMV