Dry Vermouth Tasting

Fortunately Cinzano is no more available via its supplier in Dubai [which was A+E].
Fortunately this gave me the opportunity to change to a good product.
Fortunately the suppliers were so nice, to drop me their suggestions.
Fortunately - they were all great.

Unfortunately it is so hard to choose...

I had three products to compare:

Noilly Prat - Original Dry is the benchmark. This is which most people, who like Martini cocktails would prefer [yes the original Martini with gin - which only maybe substituted with vodka, vermouth and optional orange bitters - no strawberry, caramel, toffee, cotton candy or any other hogus].

Dolin is French as Noilly Prat - and maybe not that good known. It still has a great reputation under Martini cocktail connoisseurs and bartenders.

And finally Vya - the new kid on the block! A boutique vermouth made by a boutique winery in California.

I was especially excited to try Vya - as I have heard so much about it and could never try.

I won't bore you with a lot of tasting notes. I might do this on an occasion, when I will review each of them in an individual review [well - or I won't - depending how much time I have on my hands].

But the verdict is, that all of them are really great vermouths, but quite different.

Dolin is very subtle. You have a quite bright wine character and herbs are supporting the wine characteristics. Dolin is also the driest of the bunch.

Vya is a completely different beast. It is quite "spicy" featuring more obvious botanicals like brown spices and orange peel [taken just from my impressions]. It is lively and racey. The white wine much more defines the product and is a standout. Definitely a great vermouth!

Noilly Prat is positioned between the previous two. The wine is more expressive and has more acidity balance as the Dolin, but just not yet as much as the Vya. It is bright, has beautiful herbal flavors with little spice underlying them.

Fact is, that I would like to have them all! It would be great, to offer them as options for Martini cocktails or even have them as aperitifs on the rocks. But I feel, that I am not yet on this stage here on work, so I have to choose one...

As the biggest consumption of vermouth in the hotel happens to be for Martinis, I will choose Dolin for now. This is surprising myself [before the tasting I was sure, that I would go for Vya or Noilly Prat]. Dolin is just so much dryer and more subtle - it can be used even in a higher ratio, without big distraction of the clean character of a Martini cocktails extra dry!

If I would sell more vermouth as aperitif, I would definitely rather go for one of the other two [or both].

One other point, which I hope will improve the quality of the vermouths in the operation will be, that I will transfer them in much smaller bottles [for the moment I have half wine bottles - but maybe I will even go for smaller glass bottles]. This would speed up the consumption [vermouth is not very shelf stable], but also would ensure, that it can be always stored in the fridge, without using valuable fridge real estate...

I will also use a wine spray [an argon mixture] to ensure, that it won't oxidize as fast.

Did you tried all three and what is your verdict? Do you have any tips to share, how to make sure, that you have always "fresh" vermouth, and not reoxidized ones, which you get in most places?

Comment below!

How to use citric acid - and why you might not want to use it anyway!

To be honest, I shied away of this topic, because I think, people can misinterpret this - big time. I don't want to be part of the problem - I want to be part of the solution! But when Chris, over at A Bar Above discussed this subject- I literally could not resist to join into "the discussion". Here is the video: I - however take a bit slower approach than Chris. What is citric acid? Chemical Compound Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the formula C6H8O7. It is a natural preservative/conservative and is also used to add an acidic or sour taste to foods and drinks. Wikipedia Formula: C6H8O7 Molar Mass: 192.124 g/mol Melting Point: 153C Density: 1.66 g/cm3 Boiling point: 175C Soluble in: Water Why is it controversial? In my "mixology world" it is controversial, as citric acid is the stuff, which makes the nightmarish sour mix [ preferably in powder form ] sour. Yeah - citric acid is the main ingredient in one of the most ...

Agar-Agar Clarification

Not often, I am posting here things, which are clearly not my ideas... However Dave Arnold is clearly a mad scientist [no, he really is!] - and he posted amazing stuff on his website www.cookingissues.com - no - don't click now - just follow the link later. One of the most impressive posts about mixology, besides of demystifying the mechanics of shaking, were clarification techniques. Look, after him, you could use a centrifuge [which would set you back a couple thousand bucks] and a chemical compound, which solidifies sediments. I am not a fan of that. Then there is gelatine clarification; this works quite well [I tried it several times my self] - you gelatinize a liquid [with little gelatine only], freeze it, thaw it [in the fridge] over a colander and a muslin cloth. Thats it. Unfortunately this has several problems: Gelatine is made out of animal bones - hence it is neither vegetarian nor vegan, which you won't usually expect of a beverage. You have to freez...

King Robert II Vodka

Who would knew, that I am reviewing a budget vodka here - on the opinionatedalchemist.com. But this isn't a normal review. I skip the marketing perception and use this product to cut directly to the case: Vodka is a "rather" neutral, colorless, "rather" flavorless and odorless distilled beverage from any agricultural source - and depending on the country, it has a minimum of 37.5% and 40% abv. As I said time and time again before: at times it is absolutely nonsense to talk about premium and luxury, when the original product doesn't really "hold this promise". Luxury water can have luxurious marketing, luxurious packaging, can be even rare and slightly more expensive "to produce". However really it is just water. Maybe it has some nuances to normal water - however those nuances (in a blind-test) are pretty small. Vodka is extremely similar - and the chain of evidence (despite a lot of people trying to proof otherwise) makes it re...

opinionated alchemist

Search This Blog