23 Sweet Vermouth Cocktails to Use Up That Bottle

If you’ve made a manhattan or negroni anytime in the last month, you probably have an open bottle of sweet vermouth sitting in the door of your refrigerator (if you have an open bottle of sweet or dry vermouth sitting on your bar cart, stop everything right now and move it to your refrigerator).

Sweet vermouth contributes fruity flavor, sweetness, and botanicals to a whole array of classic cocktails, adding a mellow vanilla roundness to rum punches and even a prickle of warm spice to the occasional spritz. Each brand of the aromatized wine has a slightly different character, leaning into citrus flavors, cardamom, quinine, or other aromatic notes.

While I’m always pretty happy to sip on a 50-50 mix of sweet vermouth and soda water with a lemon twist, I’d encourage you to shake and stir your way through a variety of cocktails while you make your way through your next bottle of Dolin Rouge or Carpano Antica Formula. Here are some ideas for getting started. If your bottle has been in the fridge long enough to start oxidizing and losing its luster (read more about the rules of alcohol expiration), use it for your next pasta sauce or in a garlicky glaze for Cornish hens.