Vermouth Renewed

Torino, in the eighteenth century was home to a thriving cafe-culture. Though the art of distillationt and the making of herbal infusions was a popular hobby in those days, it was only when a spirited entrepreneur named Carpano decided to bring his grandmother’s recipe for medicinal wormwood infusion to market that the world’s first Vermouth was born. The brand name he gave to the aperitivo was Punt e Mes or “Point & a Half”, which referred to the booming stock market of the time.

Over the next couple of hundred years, most Americans considered Vermouth as essentially a martini mixer. Then at the dawn of the current millenium, California’s Andy Quady gave Vermouth a savvy spiritual makeover.

Vya is Quady’s name for a subtle infusion of distilled wine and herbs that urges Vodka as its preferred martini partner in order to leave unblurred the delicate hints of its fruits and botanicals. Vya comes in two varieties: Dry, offering lovely hints of orange peel, ginger, and chamomile, and Sweet, with subtle notes of tangerine, clove, and vanilla followed up with a pleasant bittersweet finish.