April 10th, 2007
Italian Greyhound
My friend Al Capone, proprietor of Capone Foods in Somerville (and the soon-to-open Capone Foods Cambridge on north Mass Ave.), is known to begin a night out with the classic aperitivo Punt e Mes and soda. Punt e Mes is an Italian vermouth called a “quinquina” because quinine, a bitter bark, is said to be among the many botanicals providing the wine’s color and flavor. At first sip, it has the rich, mellow sweetness you get with standard Italian vermouth, but then it reveals its own distinctive layers of flavor, finishing with that medicinal kick.
“Its name (‘point and a half’) in the dialect of Turin, came from the day when an absent-minded stock exchange agent called out the trading floor term in old man Antonio Carpano’s bar, asking for a vermouth with a half-dose of bitters,” according to drinkshop.com. That day was in the late 1800s, so needless to say the recipe caught on.
Now, in the early 21st century, with more and more people on the hunt for “forgotton” spirits, a lot more Boston bars are carrying Punt e Mes and other aperitifs like Lillet (Blanc and Rouge) and Dubonnet. Recently, I urged Al to switch up his usual Punt e Mes and soda, just once, for an Italian Greyhound: half fresh grapefruit juice and half Punt e Mes on the rocks in an Old Fashioned glass with a salted rim. (A standard Greyhound is vodka and grapefruit.) Wow, talk about layers of flavor — and in a drink that doesn’t bonk you over the head with alcoholic strength. No. 9 Park introduced me to this heavenly cocktail, but I have to credit Scott Holliday, the former bar manager of Chez Henri, with first making me aware of the Punt e Mes and grapefruit combo (minus the salt). I have to admit that I tried making it at home once with Tropicana Grapefruit Juice, but it just didn’t work. You gotta go with the fresh fruit.
Oh, and check out the groovy Punt e Mes website. It’s mostly in Italian, but its tagline, written in a “Laugh In” font, says that “Punt e Mes is back,” and each page sports its own funky-lounge music clip and the mashup phrase “L’Appuntamento Yes.”
April 10th, 2007 at 1:04 pm
I love Punt e Mes, always have a bottle of it at home, tend to drink it on the rocks with a wedge of lime. It also adds a bit of complexity (and an attractive deeper color) to a Negroni Cocktail, a trick Joe Carbonaro, beloved barman at the sorely-missed Caffe Umbra, used in his signature version of the drink. It also makes for a tastier Americano highballl. I describe the stuff to friends as “vermouth that wants to be Campari.”
April 11th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
i used to drink it straight up with one ounce to two ounces of apple jack…. it is fun to search for those chocolate like notes….
April 13th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
One of my all time favorite drinks, I’ve had it a few times at Eastern Standard but I think it comes from No. 9 Park, is the Moto Guzzi… rye whiskey and Punt e Mes.
Fantastic stuff… and a fantastic blog, just found you today and I’m impressed!
April 14th, 2007 at 4:36 pm
Thanks, Ben! And thanks for the recommendation. I like Red Hooks, so I imagine the Moto Guzzi is fab.
November 27th, 2007 at 4:29 am
[…] The first time I tried a Moto Guzzi, I had no idea that all it was was equal parts Booker’s bourbon* and Punt e Mes. I thought there were at least some bitters in there, or two kinds of vermouth. Nope. Turns out the Moto Guzzi is the White Stripes of cocktails: like the guitarist and drummer that make up the entire band, the two ingredients in the cocktail create something raucous, deep and compelling. You can find the complete recipe here. […]