No Martini, No Party! Trivia Quiz

Answer:

Vermouth is an aromatized and fortified wine that serves as the backbone of classic cocktail culture. At its core, it starts with a neutral, low-alcohol base wine (usually white, even for red vermouth) that is spiked with a neutral grape spirit to raise its alcohol content. It goes up to approximately 15-18% ABV. From there, the wine is infused with a proprietary blend of roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices. In fact, its name comes from Wermut, the German word for wormwood (of absinthe fame), an essential bittering botanical historically required in its production.

While modern vermouth producers have expanded the category to include blanc (bianco), amber, and rosé styles, vermouth traditionally divides into two primary types, sweet and dry.

Sweet vermouth came from Torino, Italy, in the late 18th century (most famously pioneered by Antonio Benedetto Carpano in 1786). It looks rich, tastes rich, and the cocktails that it makes were traditionally drunk by the rich. Despite its deep ruby or mahogany hue, believe it or not, it is almost always made from a white wine base. It gains its dark colour from added caramelized sugar or grape must.

On the other hand, dry vermouth was developed in early 19th-century southern France by Joseph Noilly, dry vermouth is pale, crisp, floral, and refreshingly tart. Containing very little residual sugar (typically under 4% to 5%), it showcases brighter, more savoury botanicals.

Of the cocktails, vermouth adds depth of flavour to each of these interesting concoctions. The classic martini is gin and vermouth, with an olive garnish, but which vermouth and how much depends on how sweet you want your martini. A Gibson is basically a martini, but swap the olives for pickled onions. Ian Fleming made up his version of the martini for super-spy James Bond - have gin, vodka and vermouth. Bond insisted on having it shaken, not stirred, and called it a Vesper.

Considered the ancestor of the martini, the Martinez uses gin, sweet vermouth, cherry liqueur and bitters. Named after Rudolph Valentino's 1922 bullfighting film, the Blood and Sand combines Scotch, sweet vermouth, cherry liqueur, and orange juice for a similar drink.

The Manhattan is a drink named for the borough in New York City. It blends rye or bourbon, red vermouth, and bitters. Similarly, the Bronx was first made at New York's Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, in the time of Prohibition no less. In it are gin, sweet and dry vermouth, and fresh orange juice. Interestingly, the Queens also is a variation on the martini, and switches out the OJ for pineapple juice. The Brooklyn uses rye, dry vermouth, cherry liqueur, and bitters. We'll get to the last borough at the end. Related to the Manhattan is the Rob Roy which has Scotch instead of American whiskey.

Originally called a Milano-Torino, for the origins of its ingredients: Campari and sweet vermouth. When Americans began asking for it to be tempered with soda water, the name changed to Americano. The Negroni has been around since 1919 and is from Firenze (Florence), Italy. Count Camillo Negroni reportedly asked for his Americano to be splashed with gin, not soda water. In the same vein, we have a Boulevardier. It takes out the gin and substitutes bourbon or rye whiskey.

At London's Savoy hotel worked a legendary bartender, Ada Coleman. She made a martini and added bitters. When Sir Charles Hawtrey drank it and remarked "By Jove! That is the real hanky-panky!", the name was decided - a Hanky Panky.

Finally, the El Presidente is the martini's Cuban cousin. It uses white rum, dry vermouth, orange curaçao, and grenadine.

Bonus material: The cocktail named for the last borough of New York City is the only one to not use vermouth in the drink. The Staten Island Ferry cocktail is simple, using coconut rum and pineapple juice (basically, a piña colada but without the milk).