General Recipe Trouble Shooting

Greetings! First post here.
   I used to make steamed mussels simply in a heavy stock pot-- I think with only chopped or sliced onions, perhaps a little minced garlic (?), sautéed in butter and then (dry?) Vermouth added, which gave more flavor than white wines my wife and I tried. In more recent times, after years of not making it, I have repeatedly been disappointed, finding the "taste of the sea" overwhelming the delicacy and sweetness I remember of the mussels.