Alcademics

broVo Spirits Announces Four Vermouths

The four vermouths are named Witty, Pretty, Jammy and Pink.

Witty

Dry white vermouth, recipe authored by Jon Christiansen, Beverage Director at Monsoon, Monsoon East, and Ba Bar - Seattle and Bellevue, Wash.

• Witty is made in a four-stage process.
• Witty uses Sauvignon Blanc as the base.
• We macerate angelica and chamomile in overproof NGS, then remove the herbs and let it rest for a week.
• We macerate ingredients including lemon peel, rosemary, coriander, fennel, orange peel, cardamom and dried rose in overproof NGS, then remove the herbs and let it rest for a week.
• We macerate sage, damiana, spearmint, basil, and marigold in overproof NGS, then remove the herbs and let it rest for a week.
• We distill Gentian root separately.
• We infuse the wine base with cane sugar, vanilla beans, and bay leaves over heat until it boils, then let it cool.
• These five components are then blended to form Witty. The blended product then rests for a month.

Pretty

Floral white vermouth, recipe co-authored by Amanda Reed, who is working on a new concept opening soon in downtown Seattle, and George Engelstad of The Hideout, Seattle.

• Pretty is made in a two-stage process.
• Pretty uses Pinot Gris as the base.
• We macerate ingredients including vanilla bean, elderflower, chamomile, cardamom, lemon peel, and angelica root in overproof NGS.
• We do the same maceration in wine base.
• We combine the two and let it rest for a month.

Jammy

A jammy red vermouth, recipe authored by JP Vidican of The Westy, Seattle.

• Jammy is made in two stages then further fortified with a simple NGS base to expand the flavor.
• Jammy uses Merlot as the base.
• Jammy really is an exploration of Washington agriculture, using botanicals grown in-state.
• We macerate ingredients including hibiscus, ginger, tellicherry peppercorns, coriander seed, orange peel, lemon peel, cherries, and vanilla bean in overproof NGS.
• We do the same maceration in wine base.
• We distill Gentian root and combine the three bases to form the final product.
• We let it rest for a month.

Pink

A rosé vermouth, a non-traditional recipe authored by Scott Diaz of Snoqualmie Casino, Snoqualmie, Wash.

• Pink is made in three stages.
• Pink uses Rosé wine as the base.
• Pink is best served chilled.
• We combine ingredients including orange peel, hibiscus, chamomile, anise, sage, tarragon, peppercorn, grains of paradise, and juniper berries with the wine base. We bring this mixture to a boil. After cooling we combine it with Gentian distillate and rose geranium liqueur and lightly sweeten.
• We do the same thing with the NGS base. We combine and let it rest for a month.

More Information About the Vermouths from founder Mhairi Voelsgen

We wanted to see if we could build a vermouth that would last a little longer than the standard one week. Bartenders wanted a higher ABV product, but one at an effective price point.

We wanted to make a product that needed less of an explanation than amaro for the general public and would build on the skills we already had. We also thought that owning a distillery gave us an advantage - we could work with the herbs and spices in the liquor versus just infusing the wine. Infusing/distilling or macerating the flavors into the liquor would help the vermouth hold its flavor longer because the liquor is not impacted by oxidation. We built the vermouth at a higher ABV - 19.9% ABV.

There were also no new American vermouth that used Washington wine. We wanted to highlight the wine industry in the state. We chose to use four different wines as the base. They are all Wahluke Slope wines.

We elected to not use wormwood for one main reason. The TTB/ATF requires additional testing of anything with wormwood for the presence of thujones. When we made amaro, our Amaro No. 3 used mogwort. It required testing which took more than six months and held up the release of the amaro.

All the vermouths are 19.9%ABV and will retail for a suggested $19. They will be available in 11 states: Wa, ca, ny, conn, il, ga, tn, la, ma, dc, md

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