Just picked up a bottle today, and while I do have a few weeks off work, and I will be enjoying it on the rocks, in manhattans, on the rocks, and....in a glass.....I'm curious what else you guys use it for.
Also, how long will it last, pumped, in my fridge??? and can I make it last longer.
I had a Thomas Handy Sazerac and Carpano Antica Formula 2:1 manhattan with regans and a orange twist today that was great.
http://randallpmcmurphy.blogspot.com - I cook a lot and take a rediculous amount of pictures...
The Carpano should last quite well, in my experience. Fantastic stuff. Also, keep your eye out for Martelletti Vermouth Classico. It isn’t quite as syrupy and rich, but it’s otherwise outstanding.
Dear Rob,
Antica Formular is really good Vermouth. To keep it fresh for home-use I recommend a kind of WINE TASTE SAVER. I use it in my bar for wines, sherry, port, vermouth etc. The Wine Taste Saver is a simple Gas - think it is nitroge. Nitrogen has more weight then "Air" and it lays on the wine/vermouth and stops oxitation ... very simple ... not to expensive ... do not know how it is called in the US.
Regards
Jörg
Something like this: http://www.beveragefactory.com/wine/preservation/cp17000.shtml ?
Seems odd some how.
Hey
I do the same as joerg and keep it in the fridge should last 2-3 week maybe more, but its normally all gone by then.
So i love the stuff but im starting to have the opinion that Antica is starting to change the way we think about drinks and not in a good way.
The flavour profile of antica is so rich and full that it becomes over powering in most if not all drinks. A negroni with antica is amazing but the flavour of the vermouth starts to over power the two other components. Feel the same with manhattens, martinez's etc the only thing it doesnt over power is a manhatten with higher proof normally 100 plus.
Dont know what you guys think?
what was my thought too, the overpowering....so I picked a high proof rye (the thomas handy is ~127 proof) which I think was a good choice, I think rittenhouse BIB would hold up.....I'll let you know tomorrow! Rule of the house this holiday season with my fiance is you can have any cocktail you want, as long as it has vermouth in it!
Sounds like a good rule to me! Let me know how it goes with the rittenhouse.
Well, what I kind of wonder about is the degree to which Antica reflects traditional Italian Vermouths and how much the other vermouths on the market have strayed from their formulas.
Almost all recipes for cocktails from the early part of the 20th century call for more Italian Vermouth than modern recipes, not less.
Of course, the other thing to wonder about is how accurately modern spirits reflect their counterparts in early part of century.
If, somehow, we jumped in a time machine and Jerry Thomas or Harry Johnson made us a Manhattan, would we even recognize it as such?
Rob, I don't think that you'll have to worry much about it going bad. Obviously, it will eventually, but with sucha good vermouth sitting around, I am willing to bet that you won't keep it around long enough for it to lose its lustre. And, at around $30/liter? What a great price. A surprisingly good price. Look for the cost to jump as more and more people start using it.
I use it every day in our 'Classic' Manhattan, which is based with Rittenhouse 100proof. The Carpano Antica holds up so well - balances just right.
Great stuff. One of those uniquely great products, but in taste and price.
Liberty Bar :: Seattle, WA :: Alcohology
Liberty - Bar: Rob, I don't think that you'll have to worry much about it going bad. Obviously, it will eventually, but with sucha good vermouth sitting around, I am willing to bet that you won't keep it around long enough for it to lose its lustre. And, at around $30/liter? What a great price. A surprisingly good price. Look for the cost to jump as more and more people start using it. I
I
Not really sure the price can go up much more. We are talking about a vermouth not a spirit. I can buy a bottle of good vermouth trade price at about £5-6 Antica cost close to £20. Is it good but at nearly 4 times the cost of normal standard vermouth is it 4 times better?
If we go back to what we call the golden age of bartending then we do see that drinks are made with more italian/sweet vermouth. Peoples taste back then was sweeter, one opinion on this is that as sugar prices were high back then and only affodable by the rich that the average man/women would us drinks to quench there sugar cravings.
being wary of the price myself, the seller (cocktail bar owner, and enthusiast) simply told his bartender to pour Stock on the rocks and Antica...at that point he had me, I didn't even ask the price before I said I'll take a bottle if you have an extra!
I came home and did the same trick (I had to justify the 350$ I spent on spirits a few days before christmas to my fiance!) with my fiance and she also agreed that it was well worth it, and she comes from the camp of really dry manhattans/martini's.
I'd say, yeah, its bout 4x better. But, my spirit palate is about as sophisticated as my wine palate which doesn't say much so take that with a grain of salt (or dash of bitters)
Had it with rittenhouse today in a manhattan, perfect....much better than regular saz and the thomas handy saz.
Fiance is drinking one on the rocks, and she prefers Saz over ritten usually.
Tried it in a Bijou today, and it didn't hurt it.
I went to my local wine & beer shop and bought a case of 375ml dark green burgundy bottles. Whenever I buy a bottle of the Antica I jsut decant it into three of the smaller bottles, leaving as little air as possible in the two full ones, and then toss them all in the fridge. I can go through a whole liter of the stuff by myself that way without any noticeable drop in quality.
And the way I see it, even when Antica starts to turn, it's still twice as good as the cheap stuff for most applications.
I absolutely love the stuff, though £28 is alot for any vermouth, and does not seem to be comparitive to what other markets are paying either.
Also have done a blind tasting of cocktails including other vermouths, using exactly the same recipe, with a group of 25 plus bartenders, and while obviously doing well, it was far from a open and shut case in its favour. So I am a fan, but I would be judicious when and where I used it. Neat it is divine though
We were at the bar at 11 Madison Park (NYC) yesterday after lunch, and my fiance ordered some manhattan variation (perhaps cynar?, not sure that might have been Pegu) and I saw the using Antica for mixed cocktails as well.