What is anise liqueur?

Aniseed liqueur is the collective name for spirit drinks in which the aniseed flavour dominates.

Regulation (EU) 2019/787 has no category that is literally called aniseed liqueur. It does list aniseed spirit drink, pastis, pastis de Marseille, anis, distilled anis, sambuca and mistrà. Of that series, the regulation calls only sambuca a liqueur; the others are aniseed-flavoured spirit drinks. On the shelf they stand together, because they share the same flavour direction.

Aniseed, star anise and fennel provide the flavor of anise drinks, or another plant with the same main aroma compound.

Regulation (EU) 2019/787 names, under category 25: star anise (Illicium verum), anise (Pimpinella anisum) and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare). Other natural plant extracts or aromatic seeds may be added, as long as the aniseed flavour predominates. For anis, category 28, the rule is stricter: the characteristic flavour must come exclusively from aniseed, star anise, fennel or a combination of these.

Pastis must contain at least 40 percent alcohol and stay below 100 grams of sweetener per litre, while sambuca has at least 38 percent alcohol and at least 350 grams of sweetener per litre.

Pastis further sets itself apart through liquorice root: the regulation requires 0.05 to 0.5 grams of glycyrrhizic acid per litre and 1.5 to 2 grams of anethole per litre. Sambuca is colourless, is made with distillates of anise or star anise and contains 1 to 2 grams of anethole per litre. One is therefore a dry aniseed spirit, the other a sweet liqueur.

Aniseed drinks turn cloudy because anethole, the aroma compound that carries the aniseed flavour, dissolves in alcohol but not in water.

As soon as you add water, the alcohol content drops and the anethole precipitates as very small droplets that scatter the light. Researchers call this the ouzo effect: an emulsion that forms by itself, without any emulsifier. Electron microscopy has shown that each droplet has a core rich in ethanol and water, with an outer layer rich in anethole.

The sugar content varies greatly: pastis stays below 100 grams of sweetener per litre, whereas sambuca must have at least 350 grams.

An aniseed drink sold as a liqueur falls under the general rule for liqueur and contains at least 100 grams of sweetener per litre, calculated as invert sugar. For sambuca the lower limit is more than three times as high. Take a shot glass of 5 centilitres: for sambuca that is at least 17.5 grams of sugar, and for a liqueur at the lower limit 5 grams.

Aniseed drinks can be served neat or diluted with cold water; the water makes the drink cloudy.

Pastis starts at 40 percent alcohol and is often diluted with plenty of cold water. Sambuca starts at 38 percent and, with at least 350 grams of sweetener per litre, is considerably sweeter, which is why it usually comes in a small glass. An anise drink from category 25 can be as low as 15 percent alcohol and then needs less dilution. Serving it to anyone under 18 is never allowed; the Alcohol Act lays that down.