Vermouth and Soda

Vermouth and soda is a flexible, lower-alcohol, and totally delightful aperitif. Here’s how to make it great, with very little effort.

Why you’ll love this recipe

I’m a true fan of a bracing cocktail, but it’s also nice to have a few much-lighter favorites up your sleeve. If you’re looking for a session cocktail that’s easy to drink, easy to love, and easy to customize, a vermouth and soda may be just the ticket. It’s:

• Delicious regardless of your vermouth to soda ratio, so each person can pour what works best for them
• Equally good with any style of vermouth, making it easy to pair with food if you like
• Amenable to additional ingredients, and even naturally-flavored seltzers
• Ready in under a minute

What you’ll need

Here’s a glance at the ingredients you’ll need to make this recipe. You can genuinely use them in whatever ratio makes you happy — I don’t even have a recommendation for ya.

• You’ll start with a bottle of vermouth. I’ve devoted a short section to this ingredient below.
• Soda water can be club soda, seltzer, or even sparkling mineral water, if you like the way its flavor profile pairs with your vermouth of choice. This is not traditional, but I like to use lemon-flavored Spindrift seltzer with blanco vermouth sometimes.
• To garnish, use a substantial slice or wedge of navel orange and a Cerignola olive (or other briny green variety). For bonus points, you can briefly grill the olive (or carefully hold it over your stovetop’s gas burner using tongs for a moment) to bring out its flavor. Don’t skip either of these elements — they add a lot to the drink’s character.

Vermouth styles

Vermouth is a fortified and aromatized wine. Fortified means that a neutral, distilled grape spirit has been added to the wine to increase its alcohol content a bit (typically between 16% and 22% ABV). Aromatized means the recipe includes herbs and spices. And you know what wine means.

There are three basic styles of vermouth, and you can use whichever you like in this cocktail:

• Rosso/Sweet/Vermouth di Torino: A sweet vermouth that gets its amber color from a rich infusion of herbs and spices and is iconic in Manhattans, Negronis, and more. My favorites in this category are Carpano Antica, Punt e Mes (which is more bitter), and Cocchi Storico Vermouth di Torino (well-balanced). There are lots of great options, though, and the fun is in the tasting.
• Dry/Extra Dry: A delicately flavored, nearly clear vermouth found in dry cocktails like Martinis. Noilly Prat, Carpano, and Dolin are all good bets.
• Bianco/Blanc: A sweet white vermouth with a bigger flavor that’s common to drink either alone as an apéritif or in cocktails. Try Carpano Bianco or Dolin Blanc.
• More recently, rosé vermouths have become popular. I haven’t sampled many yet, but if you find one you like, there’s no reason not to use it here.

Whatever type you choose, store the bottle in the refrigerator once you’ve opened it, and use it within the month for best flavor.

How to make it

Here’s an overview of what you’ll do to make a vermouth and soda. You can see the steps in action in the video that accompanies this post, and get all the details in the recipe card below.

1. Fill a rocks glass with ice and slip in an orange slice.
2. Pour in the vermouth.
3. Top with the soda water.
4. Garnish with the skewered olive and serve.

Expert tips and FAQs

More favorite drinks with vermouth

• The Grape Gatsby
• Americano
• Dirty Martini