Modern American Drinks by George J. Kappeler (1895, p.32) — George J. Kappeler 1895
| 0.75 quart | vermouth — vermouth | base |
| 1.5 pony | bitters — bitters | bitter |
| 0.25 quart | water — water | dilution |
| gum syrup — gum-syrup | sweetener |
- Combine the vermouth, water, and bitters.
- Add gum syrup to taste if a sweeter version is desired.
- Mix and bottle.
- Nose
- Aromatised wine and bitters define the drink completely, with sweetness left as a service choice rather than a fixed law.
- Palate
- The formula makes clear that vermouth itself could be a bottled cocktail base, and that the bartender might still tune sweetness according to house or customer preference.
- Finish
- The finish is herbal, dry-to-medium, and neat.
- Summary
- A bottled vermouth-centred cocktail revealing how autonomous the vermouth branch had become.
Like the straight Vermouth Cocktail, this entry shows the independence of the vermouth line. The added option to sweeten to taste is especially revealing because it leaves room for service judgement inside an otherwise bottled system.
This is one of the clearest examples in Kappeler of a bottle formula that still expects final stylistic judgement from the bartender or house.
Compared with Johnson's Vermouth Cocktail, Kappeler's bottled form is even more explicit about vermouth as a self-sufficient drink rather than merely a modifier.