Vermouth

Vermouth is a wine that has been infused in herbs, sweetened with sugar and fortified with brandy. The herb infusion makes the drink bitter, the sugar helps to counter that bitterness and the brandy raises the alcohol volume to around 20%. There are two basic styles, Italian and French.

Italian Vermouth is generally red in colour, and is also known as sweet vermouth. As its name implies, it is generally sweet on the palate, and it can be drunk alone with a slice of orange, or else used in a wide variety of cocktails. The best-known sweet vermouth cocktail is perhaps the Manhattan, and the reference brands are Martini&Rossi and Cinzano. There is also a variety known as bianco, which is pale in colour but still sweet.

French Vermouth is the colour of white wine and is much drier than the italian variety. It is most famously used in the Martini cocktail, but is also commonly enjoyed alone as an aperitif. The standard brand is Noilly Prat.