Exit
HUFFINGTON
12.22.13
TASTE
TEST
THE
VERMOUTHS
From left to right, with
prices per bottle: Noilly
Prat ($14 for 1 L), Vya
($20 for 750 mL),
Dolin ($14 for 750 mL),
Martini ($10 for 1 L)
had on hand. Then we mixed up
about 40 different martinis and
served them to our brave staffers
to see what they thought.
Almost all the martinis used
a relatively (but not crazily) dry
recipe of six parts gin to one part
vermouth. (We experimented a bit
with higher levels of vermouth,
but we didn’t include those in the
central tasting.) We did not use
any garnishes, so if you always include olives or lemon in your martinis, be aware that results may
vary. And with all due respect to
James Bond, we stirred the drinks
rather than shaking them,
to preserve their clarity.
A NOTE ON RATIOS
Most of the martinis we tasted were mixed with a relatively dry ratio of six parts gin to one part vermouth,
because that’s how most people tend to like their martinis. However, mixologists and vermouth lovers have
been pushing much wetter mixes for the past few years. So near the end of our experiment, we played around
a bit with the proportions, trying out martinis made with a 3:1, 2:1 and even 1:1 ratio of gin to vermouth. It
made a huge difference in the taste of the drink. Martinis with more vermouth were much sweeter than our
baseline. Our tasters were divided on their judgments of these wetter martinis though. Novice martini drinkers
generally liked them more than the dryer samples, while veterans liked them less. That said, most agreed that
more vermouth did a good job masking the harsh off-flavors of cheap gin. So if you’re whipping up a batch
of martinis using Georgi gin, or for a group of avowed martini haters, try using a bit more vermouth than you
normally would and see how it goes.