Everything you need to make your own vermouth from scratch

Vermouth may not be the hero ingredient in your classic cocktails, but much like Batman sans Robin, Martinis, Negronis and other OG drinks just aren’t as excellent without it. If the whole drink is a slam dunk, then the vermouth is the assist. You get the point. If you’re not super familiar with everyone’s favourite fortified wine, we’ve done a pretty good job of explaining what it is here, but we’ll give you a wee summary anyway. 

Vermouth is wine that has been fortified (alcohol added to wine), mixed with mistelle (sweet grape juice with alcohol) or sugar and then steeped or distilled with a bunch of botanicals. It can be made with any wine – white, rosé or red. This traditionally determines where it sits in the three different vermouth categories: rosso (sweet), white (blanc) and dry. However, these days, a white grape base is most common.

There are three rules for vermouth production: the first is that it has to be flavoured with a herb from the Artemisia Wormwood family; the second is that it needs to be at least 75% wine; and lastly, the finished product needs to be at least 14.5% ABV. But don’t let those li’l rules scare you – vermouth is actually surprisingly easy (and fun) to make. In fact, some of the best bars and restaurants in Australia make their own (shout-out to Etta in Melbourne). It’s also a great way to use up wine that is just about to tip over into the ‘pour out’ category. With that in mind, let’s make some vermouth.

The process for making vermouth depends very much on what kind of flavour you want to extract from the botanicals and the sweetness you are trying to achieve. Regardless of sweetness, the ratio of wine to alcohol needs to be around an 8-to-1 for a good vermouth. There are many ways to extract flavour from botanicals – steeping, cooking, distilling, rotovapping (though we don’t expect those playing at home to have one), fermenting… the list goes on.

Traditionally, fermenting (sometimes under flor, like sherry) can play a big part in vermouth’s production, making that fortification step way more important. But because we’re at home and without the big fancy equipment or access to a million ingredients, we’re going to focus on two ways – steeping to make your dry vermouth, and cooking for your sweet vermouth (mind you, you can cook the ingredients to make a dry vermouth as well). 

To make white vermouth, you would add all your botanicals to a fine-grain tea bag (or something similar) and submerge that in the mixture of wine and spirit before sealing the container and chucking it in the fridge. You need to stir and agitate it at least once a day, and you can also add or remove ingredients to your taste (we love a bit of added fino sherry). It may be ready just shy of a week, but the longer you keep it stewing the better. Once it’s ready, or you’re at least happy with the taste, strain it off, bottle it and it's ready for your Martinis – but remember to always keep it refrigerated. 

In terms of botanicals, keep in mind that your vermouth will mostly feature alongside other bold flavours within other drinks, so it’s best to show a little restraint when it comes to the ingredients list. The hot extraction method used in this cooking process draws out plenty of flavour, so there’s no need to go wild. Start with the measurements suggested below by our experienced recipe developer, then tinker for your second, third and fourth batches (yep, we guarantee you’ll want to do this more than once). We’ve included rooibos, chamomile, citrus and plenty of herbs for a perfectly seasoned and balanced vermouth that will shine both on its own over ice or as a companion within other cocktails. If you do want to take things a teeny step further, Australia has some great native botanicals that go stupid-good in vermouth. If you wanted, you could add one (and no more) to the mix. Things like wattleseed, anise myrtle, lemon myrtle and strawberry gum are fab examples.

Embarking on the sacred rosso vermouth-making journey takes some real commitment, but stay with us, because we promise the end result is totally worth it.  

For the aromatised wine base:

• 750mL light, white wine (e.g. pinot grigio, verdejo, roussanne, or unoaked chardonnay)
• Skin of one small orange
• Skin of one small lemon
• 1 rooibos tea bag
• 1 chamomile tea bag
• 1 heaped teaspoon dried wormwood
• 3 cardamom pods
• 1 star anise
• ½ teaspoon coriander seed
• ⅓ teaspoon dried thyme
• ⅓ teaspoon dried sage
• ½ cinnamon stick (cracked)
• Optional: ⅓ teaspoon of one Australian botanical (e.g. wattleseed, anise myrtle, lemon myrtle or strawberry gum)

For the caramel:

• ¼ cup of white caster sugar
• 50mL water

Fortifiers:

• 60mL Oloroso or Fino sherry
• 100mL sweet sherry
• 90mL brandy

To make the caramel:

Note: You’ll need to use this caramel while it’s hot (it hardens as it cools), so make sure you’re ready to go with the fortifying phase before you get started.

1. Place a separate small pot over a low heat and add half of the water (25mL) and all of the sugar

2. Stir until the sugar dissolves, being careful to make sure the water doesn’t boil before the sugar has dissolved

3. Once the sugar has dissolved, stop stirring and increase the heat until it’s just boiling and boil until the syrup turns golden. Resist the urge to stir – instead, gently swirl the pan to encourage even colouring

4. Once the syrup is an even golden colour, gently pour in the remaining half of the water (25mL) – this can spit, so be very gentle or whack on some oven mitts for extra safety

5. Once the water has integrated and the caramel has properly emulsified, remove from the heat and continue with the next steps while the caramel is still liquid and hot

Fortifying:

1. With your strained aromatised wine base resting in the pot, pour in the liquid caramel and fortifiers, stirring to ensure everything is nicely integrated
2. Allow to cool, then transfer to a sealable container or bottle and store your now finished vermouth in the fridge

Drink within four weeks of making for best results.