1914 Beverages de luxe

Vermouth wine is a liquor of a rather deep golden color, of absolute clearness, with a pronounced boutiuet of aromatic herbs and spices, skillfully combined so as to obtain an homo- geneous ensemble, with a sweet flavor, endinjj in an agreeable aromatic and tonic-slight bitterness. ILsed moderately, it has a beneficial influence on the organism, in stimulating the appetite and toning the action of weak stomachs. The first maker of Vermouth in Tui-iii was a pastry cook and liquor retailer, having his store under the Portici di Piazza Castello, who sold his customers the Muscatel wine of Piedmont, in which he had infused some of tiie herbs that are identified with the preparation of this liquor. From the outset it met with the favor of the consumers, and the demand soon grew to such size to require the prepara tion on a lai'ge scale, thus bringing into existence several estab- lishments, that quickly attained commercial importance. These supply both to a consideral)le home demand and to an ever-increasing export trade, showing that foreign countries alone require somewhat in the neighborhood of ] 73,672,000 bot- tles, besides .540,600 gallons, of this vinous liquor, of which the United States receives per year about 43,056,000 bottles and about 65,000 gallons. There are to-day, in Turin and neighborhood, about a dozen first-class establishments engaged in this industry, some of them with plants that are small towns in themselves, where many thousands of workmen find remunerative employment. The demand for this Italian .specialty in the United States has increased wonderfully within the last twenty years, viz., from about 50,000 ca.ses in the early nineties, to a present yearly average of over 150,000 cases. Vermouth wine is drunk in Italy and in most foreign coun- tries straight, as an appetizer, in the same way as in this coun- try the cocktail is taken before dinner. In the United States it is generally used in the preparation of mixed drinks, although foreign consumers drink it plain. Vermouth is the genius of the cocktail, being the ingredient that, either in the Martini or the Manhattan, imparts to it the characteristic feature of the drink. There is no doubt that the future has in store for this ar- ticle as great prospects as the past has recorded successes, and that, as consumers in this country become more familiar with the use of Vermouth as a beverage to be drunk plain, which en- ables them to better appreciate quality, further development of its importation will be realized, especially in those brands which can challenge in the matter of excellence.