Punt e Mes (from pms, pont e mes , "
nepoint and a half") is an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
vermouth
Vermouth (, ) is an aromatized fortified wine, flavoured with various botanicals (roots, barks, flowers, seeds, herbs, and spices) and sometimes colored. The modern versions of the beverage were first produced in the mid- to late 18th centur ...
. It is dark brown in color and has a bitter flavor. According to its producer, the name refers to the flavor being characterized as half a "point" of
bitterness and one "point" of
sweetness.
It can be used as a substitute for regular rosso vermouth in such drinks as the
Americano,
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
,
Negroni
A Negroni is an Italian cocktail, made of one part gin, one part vermouth rosso (red, semi-sweet) and one part Campari, garnished with orange peel. It is considered an apéritif.
A traditionally made Negroni is stirred, not shaken; it is buil ...
, and
Boulevardier. Punt e Mes has a strong, distinctive flavor, half-way between regular rosso vermouth and
Campari
Campari () is an Italian alcoholic liqueur, considered an apéritif (20.5%, 21%, 24%, 25%, or 28.5% ABV, depending on the country where it is sold), obtained from the infusion of herbs and fruit (including chinotto and cascarilla) in alcohol a ...
. Punt e Mes was made by the
Carpano
Antonio Benedetto Carpano (1764, Bioglio (Biella) - 1815, Turin) was an Italian distiller, famous for having invented vermouth and consequently the apéritif.
In 1786, Antonio Benedetto Carpano invented modern Vermouth in Turin, made from white ...
family from
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...
until 2001, when Distillerie
Fratelli Branca of
Milan
Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...
bought it.
References
External links
Punt e Mes website
Vermouth
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