FOR many people, the only experience of vermouth used to come in the form of an ancient bottle hidden at the back of the drinks cabinet. It would sit—mysterious and sometimes menacing—next to the holiday ouzo and Harvey’s Bristol Cream. Which is all wrong; because, in fact, vermouth should be kept refrigerated and consumed within two weeks, not left to gather dust for 20 years.
Drunk properly, it has much to offer: the beauty of vermouth is that it can be enjoyed both as a stand-alone drink or as a key aromatic ingredient in cocktails. It is superb as a pairing for food or as a digestif. For bartenders and cocktail aficionados, it has long been a crucial ingredient for drinks such as the negroni, at once sweet, bold and bitter and so popular that it has a dedicated week in the calendar. Now, however, vermouth is enjoying a wider revival. Although
