Tales of the Cocktail® New Orleans 2016

Few may realize that Spain today has the highest per capita vermouth consumption in the world, a trend still growing well ahead of a nascent cocktail scene. Here vermouth is typically consumed on the rocks with olives and chips. And there’s probably no country with a more varied offerings: Spanish vermouths are often made with regional varietals and Mediterranean botanicals, and with some vastly differentiated production methods. To boot the finished product is quite often served on tap. Neither an imitation of French or Italian styles, it’s very much a marvel of its own. With almost a dozen Spanish vermouths now available in the United States, we’ll review their unique characters and potential for use in cocktails. Let vermouth experts Giuseppe Gallo, Eric Seed, and François Monti, author of a groundbreaking book on vermouth, tell you all about the history, the production methods and the culture behind the vermouths of Spain.