In today’s San Francisco Chronicle, the editors allow me to indulge my ongoing OCD issues with vermouth:
The Truth About Vermouth
The secret ingredient in today’s top cocktails remains misunderstood
Then, as an extra treat, swing over to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, where Leslie Kelly’s piece on summer cocktails works in a reference (and a hotlink! hot damn!) to this site, in the context of talking about the Hemingway Daiquiri. Note: the guy in the photo mixing up a Hemingway Daiquiri isn’t me; that’s Keith Waldbauer. I’m nowhere near that ugly. teen public nudity – accidental public nudity. bizarre toying: busty girls toying and squirting. forced to suck cock videos – women forced strip humiliated video.
…. and thank your lucky stars for that….
When solo, Keith isn’t so bad. But when with the new Mrs. Waldbauer it really is “Beauty and the Beast”.
I dunno. You’re pretty close to being that ugly……
interesting article. vermouth drinking is becoming like a subculture… some people are in the know and make it a part of their life style. i drink about four or five vermouth cocktails a day because the alcohol levels are perfect and the flavors are adult… most of my friends and bar regulars are picking up the habit. you start to fly through “half sinner half saints” like they are light beers but with much more satisfaction.
the ideal vermouth is an automatic chronometer with three movements… vya’ sweet is a timex. noilly prat’s dry product is intensely engineered… taking it in is like pondering a patek-phillipe. cribari’s sweet vermouth from new york state is nothing to scoff at if emeliorated properly with a little whiskey and orange peel…
its a pretty good vice.
Thanks for the note Stephen — so good to hear from you, as opposed to the ugly guys up top.
I appreciate your input on vermouth more than most, as I know how much a fan you are of the product. Cribari hasn’t made it out this way — do you know much about it? Is it going for wider distribution, so at least one might score a sample?
It was good meeting you at Tales, and thanks again for the Chamberyzette — it’s made my August much more enjoyable.
i think the cribari is a jug wine relic. i bought a liter for four dollars in south boston. i haven’t seen it since but their cooking marsala is commonly available. i think they are a small division of a giant wine conglomerate and have very little tradition. whats interesting though is that it doesn’t score top marks when you taste it on its own because of this cooked coffee taste. but you get different elegant shades of coffee and cocoa when you add whiskey…
if you wan to learn more about vermouth, check out maynard amerine’s “technology of winemaking”. it is a Univ. Cal. winemakers text book that you can get used on amazon for ten dollars. there is a comprehensive chapter on aromatized wines with quite a few botanical formulas. when you use it to make your own personal timexes you really realize how special products like stock, cinzano, and noily prat are…
cheers!
Nice article. Well done.