10 Cocktails to Make with Sweet Vermouth

Got a bottle of sweet vermouth but tired of the same Manhattans and Negronis? These 10 cocktail ideas will help you find fun new uses for it.

By
Maggie Hoffman
Maggie Hoffman is a contributing writer at Serious Eats.
Maggie Hoffman
Maggie Hoffman is a longtime food and drink expert whose recipes and cocktail-making tips can be found on her newsletters What to Drink and The Dinner Plan. She is the author of  The One-Bottle Cocktail and Batch Cocktails, both published by Ten Speed Press.
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Updated May 09, 2025
The Jacobean

This Scotch cocktail from John McCarthy is sweetened with Carpano Antica, and gets an herbal addition from Green Chartreuse. He warns that you really need to let the ice melt before you strain: "I want about half an ounce of ice melt to really open up these heavy hitters, Scotch and Chartreuse. Let it cook in the glass for awhile."

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[Photo: Alice Gao]

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Any time my friends discover a new brand of Italian vermouth to love, they always say to me: "You can drink it straight! It's all the cocktail you need!" Which is true, especially in the case of rich and luscious Carpano Antica and slightly mentholated Punt e Mes. (I've been known to drink a highball of Dolin Rouge and soda, as well. Add an orange twist!)

But after you've been drinking it straight awhile, you want to change it up a bit. Start with a Negroni, sure. Easy, delicious, classic. Or perhaps a Manhattan—all you need is rye and some Angostura, plus your bottle of vermouth. But if you get bored with those basics, it's time to explore what else you can make with sweet vermouth...because you do want to get through the bottle before it goes bad. (I don't have to remind you to keep it in the fridge, do I?)

Below are some options that are shockingly simple, and some that'll encourage you to dig into your liquor cabinet a bit.

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