Early Martini recipes--the classic Martini recipes--called for two parts gin to one part vermouth. That drink was one-third vermouth! So, how'd we get from there to 4:1, 6:1, 8:1, 15:1 to whispering the word "vermouth" in the shaker's direction? It's simple. Vermouth is a wine, yet it's treated like a spirit.

Everyone knows that wine opens up if you let it breathe. So when you crack open an Amarone or a Sangiovese you let it sit for an hour before you serve it, and the flavor improves.

Now, how long would you let that wine breathe for before you'd think twice about drinking it? Half a day? A day? Two days? A week, and then that $90 bottle would go straight down the drain?

Now, you walk into a bar where the bartender is only slinging drinks until he gets his big acting break. You order a Martini. He picks up the bottle of vermouth from the speed rack (aka: the well). It's got a speed pourer stuck in the top. That speed pourer has a couple of holes in the top, so basically that bottle of vermouth--which is a wine--has been sitting there open at room temperature breathing for a week, a month, six months, or ever since Carter banned the three-Martini lunch.

And you say to the bartender: "Hold the vermouth, I want a dry one."

Well, you might be getting the best drink you're going to get at that bar, but you're not getting a Martini. Ask the bartender if the vermouth is fresh. If it isn't, ask if he could open a new bottle. Then order a classic: a 2:1 or a 4:1 if you're the type who always waits for the "walk" sign before crossing the street. Now you're drinking a silver bullet.

At home, look in the liquor cabinet. Is there half a bottle of vermouth gathering dust behind the Galliano? Whisper an apology to Bacchus and pour it down the drain. Then get a new one and keep it in the refrigerator. If you're not sure you'll go through a whole bottle within a few weeks, buy a couple of half bottles. Or do what we do: buy minis and you can open a fresh bottle for every round.

Copyright 1995-2006.Jared Brown & Anistatia Miller. Shaken Not Stirred is a registered service mark.

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