Yes, my vermouth is being stored in the fridge the entire time between unsealing and drinking.
Dry vermouth is a bit of a meme in cocktail enthusiast circles. The mainstream opinion is that it needs to be as fresh as possible to make a good cocktail, and it definitely loses a lot of flavor in the first weeks after unsealing. But to me, that full punch of wormwood herb is a bit much, I much prefer the more muted flavor of fridge-aged (oxidized) vermouth. I think part of that “as fresh as possible” stance is that people used to store unsealed vermouth outside of the fridge, often for years at a time because people were drinking their Martinis with only a few drops of vermouth. And even with freshly unsealed vermouth, most cocktail enthusiasts still tend to prefer low amounts of vermouth in their Martini, which to me suggests that they don’t actually like fresh vermouth that much.
Alternatively I could just try a few more different vermouth brands until I find one that I like from the start, but Dolin dry is delightfully cheap and Noilly Prat is the only dry vermouth that you can actually buy in physical stores where I live.
Well, now I want to do a dry vermouth comparison. Since we’re talking quality, I assume the two-month-open bottle has been stored in the fridge?
Yes, my vermouth is being stored in the fridge the entire time between unsealing and drinking.
Dry vermouth is a bit of a meme in cocktail enthusiast circles. The mainstream opinion is that it needs to be as fresh as possible to make a good cocktail, and it definitely loses a lot of flavor in the first weeks after unsealing. But to me, that full punch of wormwood herb is a bit much, I much prefer the more muted flavor of fridge-aged (oxidized) vermouth. I think part of that “as fresh as possible” stance is that people used to store unsealed vermouth outside of the fridge, often for years at a time because people were drinking their Martinis with only a few drops of vermouth. And even with freshly unsealed vermouth, most cocktail enthusiasts still tend to prefer low amounts of vermouth in their Martini, which to me suggests that they don’t actually like fresh vermouth that much.
Alternatively I could just try a few more different vermouth brands until I find one that I like from the start, but Dolin dry is delightfully cheap and Noilly Prat is the only dry vermouth that you can actually buy in physical stores where I live.