Name: Marianito
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 75 ml Rosso/sweet vermouth; 15 ml Gin; 15 ml Red bitter liqueur; 3 dash Aromatic bitters; 2 drop Saline solution 4:1

Marianito
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Glass:

Serve in an Old-fashioned glass

Ingredients:
2 ¹⁄₂ fl oz	Strucchi Rosso Vermouth
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Hayman's London Dry Gin
¹⁄₂ fl oz	Italian red bitter liqueur
3 dash	Angostura Aromatic Bitters
2 drop	Saline solution (20g sea salt to 80g water) or merest pinch of s

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

Prepare:

Select and pre-chill an OLD-FASHIONED GLASS.
Prepare garnish of skewered orange zest twist and green olive.

How to make:

STIR all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into ice-filled glass.

Garnish:

EXPRESS orange zest over cocktail and skewer with olive to use as garnish.

Allergens:

Recipe contains the following allergens:

Rosso/rouge/sweet vermouth (di Torino) - Sulphur Dioxide/Sulphites

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

21st March 2026 is World Vermouth Day

Review:

A vermouth-forward Spanish variation on the Negroni, which is great served over ice or straight-up.

View readers' comments

AKA: Marianito Preparado

Variations/similar cocktails:

Rhum Marianito

History:

Traditionally made with Spanish vermouth, the Marianito originated in northern Spain and remains especially popular in the Basque Country, La Rioja, and the city of Burgos. Properly known as a "Marianito Preparado", simply ordering a "Marianito" in many Spanish bars will often result in a small glass of vermouth being served instead.

Nutrition:

One serving of Marianito contains 184 calories

Alcohol content:

1.3 standard drinks
16.6% alc./vol. (33.21° proof)
17.6 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 8 comments for Marianito.
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Doug James

11th April at 01:51

Such a tasty and refreshing low ABV cocktail. I made this exactly as written using Castelvetrano olives as the garnish and was very pleasantly surprised how well they paired with the vermouth and Campari in this wonderful cocktail.

Sandy Hending

22nd March at 18:46

This is a delicious cocktail! I just spotted the ingredients for this Marianito are in error in my Eighteenth Edition Guide aka ‘The Encyclopaedia’ pg 402. Love this book so much!

Sally Morgan

21st March at 19:02

A great way of showcasing a craft vermouth (I can highly recommend Pembrokeshire's Still Wild Sweet Rosso Vermouth for example) in which case serve straight up to appreciate it at it's best

Patricio González-Careaga López-Tapia

21st March at 11:22

A "Marianito" here in Bilbao is just a smaller sized vermouth. Most people order that instead of a" Vermouth". This "prepared" version is what we call a Marianito Preparado.. Every bar has their own recipe, but it's quite Vermouth-forward: something like 7 parts Martini - 2 parts Campari - 1 part Gin. Difford's recipe could be my favorite though, more Negroni-styled 😎

Simon Difford

21st March at 12:00

Many thanks for sharing your local knowledge. I've added this above.

Tara Yadgir

17th January at 03:35

I used Lustau Sweet Vermouth, Edinburgh Seaside Gin and Campari. The recipe I used was slightly different and called for 2/3 oz pomelo juice and 2/3 oz of Campari. I prefer it the way Difford:s has it listed.

Owen Daulton

4th November 2025 at 00:58

Big fan of this one. Needs a good vermouth. With Cocchi torino and tanqueray 10 this was lovely, with lots of dark/ sweet cola notes balanced by the bitter/herbal.

Pedro Britto

25th September 2025 at 13:52

Actually very well balanced, although I'd prefer a little more gin (gin lover Campari hater here).

Ben Leighton

30th October 2024 at 19:25

I just love this as a template to showcase different spirit-liqueur-bitters combinations using essentially the same ratios. Two favourites so far are the Eel Bar marianito already in Difford's Guide (rhum, curacao, ango) and a 'Californian' marianito (mezcal, aloe liqueur, orange bitters).

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