Vermouth, amaro, and the rest

A modifier is anything that shares the glass with the spirit and changes the plot: vermouth, amaro, an orange liqueur, a splash of sherry, a rinse of absinthe. These are not “mixers” in the soda sense. Many of them are aromatized wine or macerations, with their own sugar, bitterness, and alcohol, and several of them are perishable.

Vermouth

Vermouth is wine, fortified and aromatized with herbs and spices. Dry vermouth is the martini’s partner. Sweet vermouth is the Manhattan’s and the negroni’s. Blanc sits between them, softer and more floral. Because it is wine, oxygen is the enemy once the cork is out. Keep it in the fridge. A half-bottle is a better buy than a liter you will resent in October. Tired vermouth tastes flat, woody, and oddly sweet-bitter, and people almost always blame the gin.

Amaro and aperitivo

Amaro means bitter. In practice it’s a sweetened, botanical liqueur with a bitter backbone, usually lower in proof than whiskey. They are not interchangeable. Some are bright and orange and belong before dinner. Some are alpine and herbal. Some are dark, cola-like, or roasted. Campari and its cousins are drier and more bitterly orange than a sipping amaro; in a negroni they are a full third of the drink, not a seasoning. Taste an amaro straight, at a sip, before you put an ounce of it in anything. If you wouldn’t want that flavor at that volume, the drink won’t save you.

Orange liqueur, sherry, absinthe

Curaçao and triple sec are orange peel, sweetened, sometimes colored, sometimes not. In a margarita the orange liqueur is doing two jobs at once: sugar, and perfume. Change the brand and you move the balance curve, because some are much sweeter than others. That is why a Tommy’s margarita — tequila, lime, agave — is such a useful comparison. Take the perfume out and you hear the agave. Sherry, in small amounts, adds nuttiness and a savory edge; fino is fragile like vermouth, and belongs in the fridge. Absinthe in the classics is usually a rinse or a dash. You want the anise and the herb on the aroma, not a second drink.