味美思很少有機會做主角，一直都是酒架上被冷落的壁花。在雞尾酒的世界里，它幾乎總被排擠到利口酒王國的底層位置。即使是最常用到它的干馬提尼，它的作用也越來越小，如今更僅作為浸杯之用。但正如人們所知，對于溫斯頓·丘吉爾來說，即便是浸杯也太過分了。一次有人問他喜歡怎樣的馬提尼，他的回答簡單粗暴：“我希望我在喝馬提尼的時候，味美思能放在房間的另一邊。”

Rarely allowed to shine alone, vermouth has long been the left-alone wallflower of the backbar. In cocktails, it’s almost-always pegged to the lower rungs of the liquor hierarchy. Even in the ever-drying Martini, the category’s most feted oeuvre, over the years, vermouth has been relegated to nothing more than a rinse. For Winston Churchill, famously, even that was too much. Once asked how he’d like his preferred curative, the reply was curt: “I would like to observe the vermouth from across the room while I drink my Martini.”

“它都被遺忘了，” Manuel Palacio說。他之前是阿瑪尼高定經理，現在是Pirata的總經理。Pirata是軒尼詩道新開業的酒吧，立意要讓客人重拾對味美思的興趣，認識到它并非至多只能用于裝點雞尾酒。Pirata的定位是香港第一家“vermuteria”（西班牙語，意為“味美思酒吧”），它順應了近來對長期被忽略的味美思的復興風潮。歷經數十年的冷落，味美思終于慢慢回到全世界各個酒吧的酒水單上了。比如說在巴塞羅那，El Bulli主廚Ferran Adrià的弟弟Albert在2013年開了一家味美思酒吧Bodega 1900，而味美思蘇打如今已和經典的金湯力一樣受歡迎；在紐約，Amor y Amargo是為數不多的供應自制甜味美思的酒吧之一；在香港，生于馬德里的Palacio和意大利合伙人Christian Talpo表示Pirata的部分靈感源自他們各自家鄉的傳統。“一開始我們把注意力集中在西班牙式的味美思喝法——加蘇打，加橄欖，”Palacio說，“后來我們意識到有一些味美思最好不加冰飲用，而另一些最好要加冰，還有的適合純飲……”

“It’s been forgotten,” says Manuel Palacio, former Armani Prive manager and now GM of Pirata, a new bar on Hennessey Road that hopes to revitalise interest in the category beyond a bit-part in the make-up of a cocktail. Billed as the city’s first “vermuteria” – the Spanish word for vermouth bar – Pirata follows a recent resurgence in appreciation for the long-unheeded drink. After decades of neglect, vermouth is slowly finding its way back on to bar menus around the world. In, say, Barcelona, where El Bulli chef Ferran Adrià’s younger brother Albert opened his vermuteria Bodega 1900 in 2013, vermouth-soda is now as popular as the hallowed Gin & Tonic. In New York, Amor y Amargo is just one of several bars that serves its own house-made sweet vermouth on tap. In Hong Kong, Madrid-born Palacio and Italian co-founder Christian Talpo say Pirata is, in part, inspired by the traditions of their homelands. “In the beginning we were very fixed on just enjoying vermouth the way it’s served in Spain – with soda, the olive,” explains Palacio. “But then we realised that some of them are better enjoyed without ice, some work better on the rocks, some served neat…”

當下的酒單涵蓋了將近20多種味美思：比如像仙山露紅和曼奇諾陳釀這樣經典的都靈風格意大利味美思，還有像諾里帕特干和波西耶這樣的法國味美思，以及像佩魯齊紅這樣的西班牙味美思等等。酒單上也有一些不那么主流的牌子，比如紐約的Atsby Armadillo Cake和一個2012年建立的澳洲品牌Regal Rogue——客人得以一嘗來自地中海傳統產區之外的味美思。另外，酒單上還有一系列以味美思為基酒的雞尾酒，它們的配方出自Palacio的業內朋友之手：新花花公子的原料包括分別以香草和橙子浸漬的威士忌、紅蘋果浸漬的金巴利和安提卡配方味美思，由曾和Palacio在倫敦小佛羅里達酒吧共事過的Massimiliano Bossio創作。同時，意大利調酒大師Giancarlo Mancino創作了經典的內格羅尼和東京到都靈這兩款雞尾酒，后者的配方是曼奇諾陳釀干味美思、蝶矢梅酒和柚子清酒。

Right now, the current menu covers more than 20 varieties: classic, Torino-style Italian bottles such as Cinzano Rosso and Mancino Vecchio Barricato, Noilly Prat Dry and Boissiere Sweet from France and Perucchi Rosso from Spain. There are more off-beat offerings, too: Atsby Armadillo Cake from New York and Regal Rogue, an Australian brand launched in 2012  – both offer a glimpse at how the category can be conceived outside of the traditional Mediterranean vermouth belt. In addition, a list of vermouth-based cocktails come from a number of Palacio’s industry friends: The New Boulevardier, a mix of vanilla- and orange-infused whisky, red apple-infused Campari and Antica Formula, comes care of Massimiliano Bossio, Palacio’s former colleague at Floridita, London. Meanwhile, Italian bar grandee Giancarlo Mancino offers a classic Negroni as well as the Tokyo-Torino One Way – Mancino Vermouth Secco, Aperol, Choya umeshu and yuzu sake.

Palacio說酒吧拒絕任何品牌的贊助以保留酒單的獨立性。客人從而得以探索他始終認為是酒架上被了解最少的酒類。“我們試著讓自己的收藏成為亞洲最全的。”Palacio說。但這并非酒吧的目標所在。“我們對發現味美思的熱情，才使得我們獨一無二。”

Palacio says the bar has turned down brand sponsorship in order to remain independent in its selection. This allows guests to explore what he insists is the least understood category on the backbar. “We are trying to carry the largest collection in Asia,” he says. But that’s not the point of the bar. “Our love of discovering vermouth. That’s what makes us unique.”

Secrets Door

15ml 添加利金酒 / Tanqueray 10
15ml 金巴利 / Campari
15ml 曼奇諾紅味美思 / Mancino Rosso
15ml 雅凡那利口酒 / Averna Amaro
10ml 檸檬汁/ Lemon juice
10ml 糖漿 / Sugar syrup
1個蛋清 / 1 Egg white

將所有原料放入調酒聽干搖，然后再加冰搖勻。雙重濾入冰過的碟形香檳杯。以覆盆子裝飾。

Add all ingredients to a mixing tin and dry shake; add ice and shake again; double strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with star anise.