The small batch of bottles I made for Christmas 2023 ended up bringing me back to something I had long forgotten.

One of the bottles went to my parents. After tasting it, my mother started telling me stories about her parents – my maternal grandparents, Ann and Bertie Gray. Apparently, they had a serious fondness for vermouth.

Vermouth was incredibly fashionable in the mid-1900s, but by the time the 1970s arrived it had fallen out of favour for many drinkers. Not for Ann and Bertie though. For them it remained a firm favourite.

Their drink of choice was a mixture of red and white vermouth topped with soda. They had their own nickname for it: a “Mixed And” – short for a Mixed Vermouth And Soda.

As far as I can tell from subsequent research, this was their very own name creation. There’s no real record of a ‘Mixed And’ cocktail appearing anywhere beyond their relationship. It seems it was simply their own affectionate shorthand for their favourite drink.

Hearing this story from my mother started to stir some long-forgotten memories of my own:

As a child I remember always being fascinated by the drinks cupboards and sideboards in my parents’ and grandparents’ houses. Inside were all sorts of bottles of spirits and liqueurs – strange shapes, deep colours, beautiful labels, exotic names. Some bottles looked pristine, others dusty and worn with age. At that age it felt like a mysterious and slightly magical collection of adult treasures.

As a child I don’t THINK I would ever have done more than sneak the lids off bottles to smell them. But by my teenage years I remember trying a few small tastes here and there. One stood out above all the others – Martini Rosso… Sweet, herbal, slightly bitter. I remember being fascinated by it.

After a little reminiscing (this is now early 2024) my mother and I decided to recreate the “Mixed And” together – red vermouth, white vermouth, and soda. A simple drink, just as my grandparents had enjoyed it.

The moment we tasted it we both had the same reaction. It unlocked a distant memory instantly.

It must have been from family Christmases many years earlier. Perhaps my mother remembering her parents sharing their favourite drink with her as a teenager, and Ann and Bertie later repeating the same ritual with me as a child. Whatever the moment was, the flavour triggered something unmistakable.

The taste memory was absolutely clear.

Now, having unlocked these memories, I can’t help wondering whether these early, half-forgotten experiences were quietly sitting somewhere in my subconscious. Perhaps they were the reason I instinctively reached for a vermouth and soda that evening while travelling years later, when I needed something to settle my stomach.

If that’s true, then that childhood curiosity may well have been the unlikely catalyst for the entire Vermouth Actually adventure. Thank you 8 year old Alex!

It’s also the reason there’s a small tribute to my maternal grandparents on every bottle. My full name is Alex Gray Ryan, and you’ll see that middle name included on the label.

For years I avoided using it. At school it was very easy ammunition for teasing, and like many people I quietly dropped my middle name from everyday life. But this project changed how I felt about it.

Gray is a direct link to Ann and Bertie, and to a small family tradition of enjoying vermouth together.

So now it sits proudly on the bottle – a nod to where this story may have truly started: Alex Gray Ryan’s Vermouth Actually.