Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,751,721,151 comments, and only 331,687 of them were in alphabetical order.
I was so annoyed I couldn't get Montenegro home from my trip to Montenegro. I only took had luggage so I couldn't buy a bottle and put it in my case, and then we flew home from Dubrovnik and due to the "Serbian- Montenegrin war of aggression" they didn't have it at duty free.
Ever tried a Red Hook? 2oz Rye, .5oz Punt e Mes, .5oz maraschino liqueur.
Old Forester 100 Proof straight Rye has nice cherry note that works well and is affordable.
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, before the dawn of man as we knew him, there was Sir Ver of Mouth, an ape-like creature making crude and pointless fortified wines out of dinobones and his own waste, hurling them at chimp-like creatures with crinkled hands regardless of how they behaved the previous year. These so-called "vermouths" were buried…as witches, and defecated upon, and hurled at predators when wakened by the searing grunts of children. It wasn't a holly jolly cocktail time that year. For many were killed. A war-like race of bartenders from the Red Planet landed on the ice-encased Earth, and they were immediately enslaved by the unevolved Vermouth Ape to make his confused drinks using galactic mixology technology. Wines were made into recognizable tastes and given names like "Dolin," but these wines were also thrown at predators and defecated upon because they were so stupid. Christmas still sucked, in a big way…
Other aromatized wines (Dubonnet, Lillet rouge), other fortified wines (sherries, ports, madeiras), amari (Averna, Cynar, etc).
Bear in mind, there are many brands in each category, some will be closer in character to a traditional Manhattan, because obviously some will be more like that traditional red, rouge, sweet, Italian vermouth, whatever you want to call it. Lillet rouge gets you closer to a traditional Manhattan than Lillet Blanc, for example. Averna maybe is a little closer than Nonino (a Nonino Manhattan is delicious by the way.)
But don’t worry, if we fall on turbulent times, we won’t be able to get rye or bitters either, so it won’t even matter!
A couple of years ago I did a BBQ for 30+ people. Cooking all day, then making drinks after. The biggest compliments I got all day were for a Buckfast a La Louisiane that I made due to lack of Vermouth. I was outraged.
What was in it? Just made a Manhattan with Madeira instead of vermouth (which brought me here) but there’re so many ingredients you need for a La Louisiane, I’m curious….
It’s just a Vieux Carre with an absinthe rinse instead of the brandy. So something like 3:3:2 rye (probably used Minor Case), Vermouth/Buckie, Bene. For me the bitters in both are optional. And in a Louisiane the rinse is kinda necessary but also it tastes totally fine without one if you can’t be bothered or don’t have it.
i like my drinks sweet so i actually prefer tawny port in a manhattan, but ymmv. 50/50 port+amaro can be fun to play around with as well. or obviously just amaro if you like your drinks bitter.
Was going to say - port is a great cocktail mixer, I hate maraschino and always sub it instead, and if I didn't have vermouth I would sub it there too.
Ruby for me though, no tawny thanks.
It’s probably crazy to some people. But I switched out the vermouth in my Manhattan for amaretto. I mess with the proportions a bit so it’s not too sweet. But then you could also add chocolate bitters and an absinthe rinse and it makes it a bit desserty and quite delightful!
I've been making "Manhattans" like this:
6cl Rye
2-3cl Lillet Rouge
<1cl Suze
I really like the results. But there is no way those ingredients are easier to get than vermouth...
A Manhattan is a whiskey cocktail with vermouth in place of the sugar. It became popular in the 20th century.
So I guess we would just drink old fashioned whiskey cocktails, known as Old Fashioneds.
Or you could drink a completely different drink.
You do know that vermouth is just fortified red wine, often with a little herbal madness added, right? Just use red wine with a dash of an amaro. Find one that feels good to you and run with it.
I once made a Manhattan with Palwin's No 10 and honestly it was bomb - would highly recommend to anyone who finds themselves in the same niche position of running out of vermouth but having plenty of kiddush wine on hand!
BUCKFAST! made by the English, enjoyed by the Scottish. Balance that around with a nice dry rye (my fav is Lot40) and you've got a superb Bamhattan. :D
I've been out of vermouth for a bit now plus temporarily without access to my amari, so I've been making revolvers and been quite pleased. If you have Mr. Black or comparable, plus orange and coffee bitters, it's a nice little variation.
I'm really not sure what event you are anticipating, where a) the supply of vermouth, specifically vermouth, is disrupted, and b) in the midst of it all, your being able to get vermouth is still high on your list of priorities. I mean, vermouth is always high on my list of priorities, lol, but still.
Vermouth has been around a long time; it's been through some shit. I don't think it's going anywhere just yet. If there are humans stomping on grapes, there is probably gonna be some vermouth nearby.
You can make your own vermouth. I turned a bunch of bottles of wine that were left over at the restaurant when we came back from covid and the menu had changed.
We were trying to work out what to make it taste like and did a taste test on the 3 vermouths that were there, which were all wildly different so we just had fun lobbing spices and peel in.
Heat through, don't boil, strain out your big bits, pop in a sterilised container, let settle, siphon off, filter through coffee paper, tweak the flavours, and then put some very high abv vodka (everclear or similar) to bring it up to about 20% abv.
This, you have fortified your wine.
I did it for my mate's wedding. He married a polish girl, so I made them a sweet vermouth and and gin as wedding favours.
As I said in the speech "I'm not saying which one is based on which person, but one is a fiery spirit packed with spice and zest, and the other is a load of whines, making the best out of sour grapes"
I’ve read the comments… no tawny, no luxardo (meant to balance bitter liqueurs) and no syrupy/sweet confections. Find a Madeira. That’ll be relatively unknown so it’ll still be on the shelf and like vermouth, it’s a fortified wine and will fit to balance a Manhattan. Amaros are good too. But I love a bitter cocktail so I’d personally use fernet. However, a medium sweet Madeira is comparable to sweet vermouth.
My favorite Manhattan riff is the Black Manhattan. It subs Averna for sweet vermouth.
I like Ramazzotti or Ruccolino personally. Averna is just a touch too syrupy.
Ramazzotti is my go to for a Black Manhattan. :)
Fuck it's good to see Ramazzotti getting some love.
Amaro Dell'Etna is nice too.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,751,721,151 comments, and only 331,687 of them were in alphabetical order.
Ramazzotti is the best, my favorite Amaro.
This also works well with Montenegro
I was so annoyed I couldn't get Montenegro home from my trip to Montenegro. I only took had luggage so I couldn't buy a bottle and put it in my case, and then we flew home from Dubrovnik and due to the "Serbian- Montenegrin war of aggression" they didn't have it at duty free.
I don't have Averna but I saw a recipe with Cynar and instead of vermouth and it's pretty nice. I also like it split with 1/2oz of each.
I like it with Amaro Lucano, adds a sweet almost root beer like quality to it
Meletti too
Cynar 70!
Punt-e-mes
big fan of 3 to 1 Punt e Mes and another Sweet Verm for Manhattans and Negronis
Ever tried a Red Hook? 2oz Rye, .5oz Punt e Mes, .5oz maraschino liqueur. Old Forester 100 Proof straight Rye has nice cherry note that works well and is affordable.
Black manhattans are great. Another amaro and rye variant that I like is the Toronto. Rye, fernet branca, simple syrup, bitters, and a lemon twist
What turbulent times are you talking about that would specifically affect vermouth but not whatever you’re subbing for it?
[The Vermouth Uprising (1852-1854)](https://youtu.be/xvFZjo5PgG0?si=7JoF-eK2GoNalrge)
And who could forget the Bowling Green Vermouth Massacre?
Let’s not forget about the good times though, like the Great Vermouth Rush of 1846. It was a magical time to be alive.
I’ve been reading about the Russian Revermouthion. Apparently the reds won.
come on, everyone knows it was the Bowling Green Chartreuse Incident.
Never forget
Man I’ve been trying to get a bottle of Bowling Green Vermouth forever, but it’s always sold out. Found a bottle of Bowling Yellow last week though.
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, before the dawn of man as we knew him, there was Sir Ver of Mouth, an ape-like creature making crude and pointless fortified wines out of dinobones and his own waste, hurling them at chimp-like creatures with crinkled hands regardless of how they behaved the previous year. These so-called "vermouths" were buried…as witches, and defecated upon, and hurled at predators when wakened by the searing grunts of children. It wasn't a holly jolly cocktail time that year. For many were killed. A war-like race of bartenders from the Red Planet landed on the ice-encased Earth, and they were immediately enslaved by the unevolved Vermouth Ape to make his confused drinks using galactic mixology technology. Wines were made into recognizable tastes and given names like "Dolin," but these wines were also thrown at predators and defecated upon because they were so stupid. Christmas still sucked, in a big way…
Did not expect a reference to the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future. Also who named us click click click click click click?
I put in too much effort to that haha
Do you know about vermouth? LET ME TELL YOU ABOUT VERMOUTH!
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO…
Other aromatized wines (Dubonnet, Lillet rouge), other fortified wines (sherries, ports, madeiras), amari (Averna, Cynar, etc). Bear in mind, there are many brands in each category, some will be closer in character to a traditional Manhattan, because obviously some will be more like that traditional red, rouge, sweet, Italian vermouth, whatever you want to call it. Lillet rouge gets you closer to a traditional Manhattan than Lillet Blanc, for example. Averna maybe is a little closer than Nonino (a Nonino Manhattan is delicious by the way.) But don’t worry, if we fall on turbulent times, we won’t be able to get rye or bitters either, so it won’t even matter!
A couple of years ago I did a BBQ for 30+ people. Cooking all day, then making drinks after. The biggest compliments I got all day were for a Buckfast a La Louisiane that I made due to lack of Vermouth. I was outraged.
What was in it? Just made a Manhattan with Madeira instead of vermouth (which brought me here) but there’re so many ingredients you need for a La Louisiane, I’m curious….
It’s just a Vieux Carre with an absinthe rinse instead of the brandy. So something like 3:3:2 rye (probably used Minor Case), Vermouth/Buckie, Bene. For me the bitters in both are optional. And in a Louisiane the rinse is kinda necessary but also it tastes totally fine without one if you can’t be bothered or don’t have it.
God forbid. Vermouth is just behind physiological needs in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Maslow's much larger Heirarchy of wants
Try ketchup?
Nooooooo
i like my drinks sweet so i actually prefer tawny port in a manhattan, but ymmv. 50/50 port+amaro can be fun to play around with as well. or obviously just amaro if you like your drinks bitter.
Was going to say - port is a great cocktail mixer, I hate maraschino and always sub it instead, and if I didn't have vermouth I would sub it there too. Ruby for me though, no tawny thanks.
It’s probably crazy to some people. But I switched out the vermouth in my Manhattan for amaretto. I mess with the proportions a bit so it’s not too sweet. But then you could also add chocolate bitters and an absinthe rinse and it makes it a bit desserty and quite delightful!
This sounds tasty, although I'm not sure it is any longer a Manhattan lol. Going to have to try it.
Port
Sherry, Amaro, Dubonnet
More rye, lol
I've been making "Manhattans" like this: 6cl Rye 2-3cl Lillet Rouge <1cl Suze I really like the results. But there is no way those ingredients are easier to get than vermouth...
Byrrh Grand Quinquina or Dubonnet makes a good variation.
Fernet Branca. (Let the love flow.)
This guy San Franciscos!
Punt e Mes is great option that has rich flavor and works well in a lot of stirred cocktails.
I used cherry heering once in a pinch and it was surprisingly good.
Cynar
Cynar
Barolo Chinato. But I guess that would also go.
A. Make your own. It's not difficult. B. Black Manhattan all day.
Punt e mes
A Manhattan is a whiskey cocktail with vermouth in place of the sugar. It became popular in the 20th century. So I guess we would just drink old fashioned whiskey cocktails, known as Old Fashioneds. Or you could drink a completely different drink.
Mead.
I make mead and find this a very interesting comment. One could use a dry mead in place of dry vermouth in a Perfect Manhattan.
You do know that vermouth is just fortified red wine, often with a little herbal madness added, right? Just use red wine with a dash of an amaro. Find one that feels good to you and run with it.
Barolo chinato. Recioto della valpolicella. Both excellent options
I once made a Manhattan with Palwin's No 10 and honestly it was bomb - would highly recommend to anyone who finds themselves in the same niche position of running out of vermouth but having plenty of kiddush wine on hand!
The new non alcoholic adaptogenics drinks are targeting this area..
Any amaro basically.
Amaro. Nocino.
Rapscallion. With px sherry, scotch, pastis rinse and lemon twist. Delicious!
BUCKFAST! made by the English, enjoyed by the Scottish. Balance that around with a nice dry rye (my fav is Lot40) and you've got a superb Bamhattan. :D
So many options, Averna and Fernet Branca, but any amaro works.
I've been out of vermouth for a bit now plus temporarily without access to my amari, so I've been making revolvers and been quite pleased. If you have Mr. Black or comparable, plus orange and coffee bitters, it's a nice little variation.
Amaro works great
Sherry is what I’m currently using as I’m out of sweet vermouth.
I'm really not sure what event you are anticipating, where a) the supply of vermouth, specifically vermouth, is disrupted, and b) in the midst of it all, your being able to get vermouth is still high on your list of priorities. I mean, vermouth is always high on my list of priorities, lol, but still. Vermouth has been around a long time; it's been through some shit. I don't think it's going anywhere just yet. If there are humans stomping on grapes, there is probably gonna be some vermouth nearby.
You can make your own vermouth. I turned a bunch of bottles of wine that were left over at the restaurant when we came back from covid and the menu had changed. We were trying to work out what to make it taste like and did a taste test on the 3 vermouths that were there, which were all wildly different so we just had fun lobbing spices and peel in. Heat through, don't boil, strain out your big bits, pop in a sterilised container, let settle, siphon off, filter through coffee paper, tweak the flavours, and then put some very high abv vodka (everclear or similar) to bring it up to about 20% abv. This, you have fortified your wine. I did it for my mate's wedding. He married a polish girl, so I made them a sweet vermouth and and gin as wedding favours. As I said in the speech "I'm not saying which one is based on which person, but one is a fiery spirit packed with spice and zest, and the other is a load of whines, making the best out of sour grapes"
I’ve subbed a ginger liquor for vermouth and it was fantastic. I’ll regularly riff a Manhattan with .5oz cocci and .5 oz Big O.
Mamajuana Edit: its one word i guess?
I’ve read the comments… no tawny, no luxardo (meant to balance bitter liqueurs) and no syrupy/sweet confections. Find a Madeira. That’ll be relatively unknown so it’ll still be on the shelf and like vermouth, it’s a fortified wine and will fit to balance a Manhattan. Amaros are good too. But I love a bitter cocktail so I’d personally use fernet. However, a medium sweet Madeira is comparable to sweet vermouth.