Anisette Marie Brizard Nouvelle Bouteille

Anisette, or Anis, is an

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...

-flavored

liqueur A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...

that is consumed in most

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

countries. It is colorless and, because it contains sugar, is sweeter than dry anise flavoured spirits (e.g.

absinthe Absinthe (, ) is an anise-flavored Liquor, spirit derived from several plants, including the flowers and leaves of ''Artemisia absinthium'' ("grand wormwood"), together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. His ...

). The most traditional style of anisette is that produced by means of distilling aniseed, and is differentiated from those produced by simple maceration by the inclusion of the word ''distilled'' on the label. The liqueur is often mixed with water or poured over ice cubes because of its strong flavour.

Variations

Pastis is a similar-tasting liqueur that is prepared in similar fashion and sometimes confused with anisette. It employs a combination of both aniseed and

licorice Liquorice (Commonwealth English) or licorice (American English; see spelling differences; ) is the common name of ''Glycyrrhiza glabra'', a flowering plant of the bean family Fabaceae, from the root of which a sweet, aromatic flavouring is ...

root extracts.

Sambuca Sambuca () is an Italian anise-flavoured liqueur. Its most common variety is often referred to as "white sambuca" to differentiate it from other varieties that are deep blue ("black sambuca") or bright red ("red sambuca"). Like other anise-fla ...

is essentially an anisette of Italian origin that requires a high minimum (350g/L) sugar content.

Geographical spread

Mediterranean

In the Mediterranean Basin, anise-based or liquorice-based spirits include: * Spain: Anís del Mono ("the monkey's anisette") has been produced since 1870. The label, with a monkey holding a scroll and a bottle, was designed by Ramon Casas i Carbó. It is the anisette of choice in

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list.

's ''

Under the Volcano ''Under the Volcano'' is a novel by the English writer Malcolm Lowry (1909–1957) published in 1947. It tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British Consulate general, consul in the Mexican city of Cuernavaca, Quauhnahuac on the D ...

''. Characters in

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

's novel ''

The Sun Also Rises ''The Sun Also Rises'' is the first novel by the American writer Ernest Hemingway, following his experimental novel-in-fragments '' In Our Time (short story collection)'' (1925). It portrays American and British expatriates who travel from Par ...

'' and his short story " Hills Like White Elephants" drink and discuss Anís del Toro – "Bull's Anisette." Another type, '' Aguardiente de Ojén'' ( es), gained fame abroad and is popular in

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, especially during the Mardi Gras festivities. * France: Anisette, made by Marie Brizard since 1755 and Pastis, made by Paul Ricard since 1932 * Greece: Ouzo * Malta: Anisetta (''Żambur''), made with anise and herbs. * Italy:

* Portugal: Licor Aniz Escarchado (crystallized) * Turkey, Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Albania: Rakı * Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt: Arak * Algeria: Anisette Cristal

Latin America

Anise-flavoured alcohols from other parts of the world include Aguardiente from Colombia and Mexico.

Philippines

Anise liqueur was also introduced to the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

by the Spanish, which developed into the local ''anisado'', an anise-flavored liqueur usually made from distilled

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fib ...

wine. A notable variant of Filipino ''anisado'' with sugar is known as ''anisado Mallorca'', or simply ''Mallorca''. They are commonly used as ingredients in

Filipino cuisine Filipino cuisine is composed of the cuisines of more than a hundred distinct Ethnic groups in the Philippines, ethnolinguistic groups found throughout the Philippines, Philippine archipelago. A majority of mainstream Filipino dishes that comp ...

References

{{Mediterranean cuisine Italian liqueurs Mediterranean cuisine Absinthe Anise liqueurs and spirits Spanish liqueurs Philippine alcoholic drinks