Vermut appears as a signature dish in 1 Spain cities. See each city's local variant and where to eat it.
Vermut (the Catalan vermouth hour) · Barcelona
Vermut is Catalonia's 13:00 ritual: a glass of red sweet vermouth poured over ice with an orange slice and an olive, drunk standing at a counter with a plate of salted anchovies, olives or chips before lunch.
The Catalan vermouth tradition was built in early-20th-century Reus, where the wine industry developed sweet aromatised vermouths flavoured with wormwood, gentian and orange peel. By the 1920s the hora del vermut had become a Sunday ritual across Catalonia: a stand-up drink at the counter before the long lunch. The tradition was revived in the 2010s by a wave of dedicated vermouth bars (Quimet i Quimet, Bormuth, El Xampanyet) and now defines Barcelona's pre-lunch culture. The drink is always poured over ice with orange and a green olive; the conserva plates on the counter are part of the ritual.
Where to eat in Barcelona:
- Quimet i Quimet
- El Xampanyet
- Bormuth
- Vinitus