Drink of the Week: Veso Fig Leaf Vermouth

Vermouth lovers and culinary-minded drinkers will want to add the vermouths from Veso Aperitifs to their home bar. Think: miso sweet vermouth, tomato vermouth, and anchovy vermouth. It’s no wonder that bars and restaurants, such as Oddball in New York, Never Say Dive in Cleveland, and Republique in Los Angeles, are counting the brand among their favorites to experiment with.

Last year Chris Beyer, Veso CEO and founder, connected with Nick Amano-Dolan of San Francisco’s Trick Dog about collaborating on a vermouth. When Beyer asked Amano-Dolan which ingredient the bar most wanted to build a vermouth around, the answer was definitive: fig leaf. “I thought it was so great as a flavor because it was incredibly versatile with its coconut and palo santo quality,” says Amano-Dolan. “But it also had a herbaceous and very green quality to it.”

Amano-Dolan, who has since moved on to Bar Snack in New York, imagined it in Negronis, Martinis, and spritzes. “It’s a perfect flavor to build a vermouth around,” says Beyer. To craft the vermouth, Veso infused fig leaves and dried ingredients—such as cacao, toasted coconut, and coriander seed—in brandy for four weeks. Afterward, the infusion was mixed with a Pinot Blanc, sweetened with cane sugar, and balanced with quassia and cinchona. The aperitif shines whether mixed simply with tonic or in a cocktail like Amano-Dolan’s tropical Bamboo riff, the Bamboo Colada. Or use it as a stand-in for dry or blanc vermouth in a spritz or Fifty-Fifty.

Even though the fig leaf vermouth launched this past spring as a limited-edition product, its popularity has made Beyer consider making it a core product. “We plan to produce a five-times bigger batch size for the next year,” he says. For now, get it while you still can. $42, drinkveso.com