1955 The U K B G Guide to Drinks (2nd edition revised)

VERMOUTH

A white wine prepared chiefly on the French and Italian sides of the Alps. It is usually known as Itahan or sweet and French or dry. n It is a wine made with the addition of aromatic herbs with a strength of 15.2%-18% alcohol. Vermouth has a slightly bitter taste and a sweet, nutty and herb-hke flavour. The usual base of the Italian type is sweet Muscat Canelh fortified wine, while Southern Italy does, however, produce a clearer, whiter and thinner in body type of Vermouth. The herbs used in its production are coriander, bitter orange peel, Roman wormwood,Chinchena bark,European Centaury Calamus, Elder flowers, Angelica, Orris, Gentian, Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg and Cardamon. After the base of white wine, sugar or grape concentrate is added for sweetening, alcohol and herb extract and finally caramel for colouring. The herb flavour is obtained by one of two methods, (a) by the suspension of ground or crushed herbs in the wine, or (b) by percolation. The dry or French types usually have more wormwood than the sweet Italian types and less coriander, cinnamon and clove. The name Vermouth is said to come from the German "Vermuth" (Wormwood),

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