A beginner's guide to vermouth

How it is made

Vermouth starts with a base wine, most often a neutral white. Producers choose grapes for freshness rather than strong character, because the botanicals will do the talking. Sweet red vermouths are usually also made from white wine, and take their colour from caramel or from the botanicals themselves.

The botanicals are infused, either in the wine or in a neutral spirit that is added to it. Beyond wormwood, recipes can include dozens of ingredients: citrus peel, gentian root, cinchona bark, chamomile, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, clove, vanilla and many more. The alcohol stabilises the wine and carries the aromas, and sugar balances the bitterness. The blend then rests so the flavours can marry before bottling.

A little history

Wine flavoured with herbs is ancient, but vermouth as a commercial product took shape in Turin in the late eighteenth century. Antonio Benedetto Carpano is often credited with selling the first sweet vermouth there in 1786. The city's producers built a tradition that is now protected as a geographical indication, Vermouth di Torino. In France, a lighter, drier style developed around the Alps and the south, which is why dry vermouth is sometimes called French vermouth and sweet red vermouth Italian vermouth.

The main styles

Labels vary between producers, but most vermouths fall into a handful of styles:

• Extra dry or dry. Pale, crisp and herbal, with little sugar. This is the vermouth of the Martini.
• Bianco or blanc. Also pale, but sweet, floral and vanilla-tinged. Good on its own over ice.
• Rosso or rouge. The classic sweet red style: richer, spicier and more bitter-sweet. The backbone of the Negroni and the Manhattan.
• Rosé and amber. Newer styles that sit between the others, with fruit, spice and bitterness in different balances.

The easiest way to learn the differences is to taste a dry and a sweet red vermouth side by side, chilled, with nothing added.

How to keep an open bottle fresh

Because vermouth is wine, it goes stale once opened. Oxygen dulls the aromas and, over time, the wine turns flat and slightly sour. The rules are simple:

• keep open bottles in the fridge, with the cap on;
• try to finish a bottle within a month or two, sooner for dry styles;
• if you use little vermouth, buy smaller bottles.

A tired vermouth is one of the most common reasons a home-made Martini or Manhattan disappoints. A fresh one can transform the drink.

Simple ways to drink vermouth

Vermouth does not need a cocktail to shine. In Spain and Italy it is often drunk as an aperitif, before a meal:

• On the rocks. A generous pour of sweet or bianco vermouth over ice, with a slice of orange or a twist of lemon.
• With soda. Top vermouth over ice with soda water for a long, low-strength drink.
• With tonic. Dry or bianco vermouth with tonic and a slice of lemon makes a lighter alternative to a gin and tonic.

Vermouth in cocktails

Vermouth has earned its place in some of the most famous cocktails ever written:

• Martini: gin or vodka with dry vermouth, stirred and served very cold.
• Manhattan: rye or bourbon with sweet red vermouth and a dash of bitters.
• Negroni: gin, sweet red vermouth and Campari in equal parts, served over ice with orange.
• Americano: Campari and sweet red vermouth, lengthened with soda water.

Because vermouth carries so much of the flavour in these drinks, it deserves the same care as the spirit you pair it with. If gin is your spirit of choice, read our guide on how gin is made, and find more cocktail recipes in the index.

Choosing your first bottle

If you are buying just one vermouth to start, choose a sweet red style: it works on the rocks, with soda and in the widest range of classic cocktails. Add a dry vermouth when you want to make Martinis. Keep both in the fridge, taste them now and then on their own, and you will quickly learn how much this quiet bottle brings to a drink.