Anisette

Marie Brizard brand anisette

Anisette, or Anis, is an anise-flavored liqueur that is consumed in most Mediterranean countries, mainly in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and France. It is colorless and, unlike some other anise-based liqueurs, contains no licorice.^[1] It is sweeter than most anise-flavoured liqueurs.

True anisette is produced by means of distilling aniseed.^[2] Pastis, a similar-tasting liqueur, is made by maceration, using a combination of aniseed and licorice.

The liqueur has a powerful flavour when drunk straight, and can even produce irritation to the throat if not taken slowly due to its high alcoholic content. In mixed drinks, however, it produces a sweet agreeable flavour. It is often mixed simply with water, where it produces a milky white consistency. That mixture is called in Spanish speaking countries "palomita". All the liqueur has to be dropped into very cold water at the same moment. Pouring it from a bottle even quickly does not produce the same result. A very white liquid denotes that a good anisette has been used. A "palomita" with just a drop of anisette can be drunk as a refreshing drink.

The sugar is added in as a syrup. Marie Brizard is a well-known producer of Bordeaux-style anisette. Anís del Mono is a Spanish brand. Sambuca is a drink of Italian origin that is similar to anise yet but with a slightly different distillation process and higher sugar content. Pastis, commonly drunk in France, is flavored with both anise and liquorice.^[3]

Names and brands of anisette

In Spanish-speaking regions

• Anís del Mono ("the monkey's anisette") is a popular anís made in Spain and has been produced since 1870.^[4] The label, with a monkey holding a scroll and a bottle, was designed by Ramon Casas i Carbó.^[5] It is the anisette of choice in Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises^[6] and Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano.^[7]
• Anís Najar is a brand produced in Arequipa (Peru) since 1854, with a very high alcohol content (46.2º GL).
• Chinchón is the name of a town identified with “anís” beverages. The different producers joined in “Alcoholera Española. S. A.” It produces different kinds of anise beverages. Anisette is called simply “Chinchón dulce”, i. e. “sweet Chinchón”.
• Ojén (or Aguardiente de Ojén (es), or simply "ojen", "OH-hen", as it is known in English) is another name of a Spanish town identified with an “anís” beverage. This liqueur, nowadays locally produced by the distillery company Dominique Mertens Impex. S.L.,^[8] gained widespread fame abroad and is very popular in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, especially during the Mardi Gras festivities.^[9]
• Aguardiente flavored with anise is sold in Colombia, Mexico, and elsewhere.^[10]
• Cartujo is one of the most widely known brands in Latin America. It is made in Venezuela and is usually mixed with juices, yogurt, or simply water. It contains 30% ABV.
• Anís Gorila was produced in Puerto Rico since at least 1935 but a similar anis called Anissett Gorila is made in Curaçao by Leáñez & Cia.
• Anís 8 Hermanos is produced in Argentina.

Outside Spanish-speaking regions

While anisette is most popular in Mediterranean countries, it is widely known in English-speaking countries as well. Characters in Ernest Hemingway's novel The Sun Also Rises and his short story "Hills Like White Elephants" drink and discuss Anís del Toro — "Bull's Anisette."

In other countries, particularly those in the Mediterranean Basin, anise-based or liquorice-based spirits are traditionally consumed, including:

• France: Pastis and anisette
• Italy: Sambuca, liquore all'anice, anisetta, mistra'. Varnelli, liquore all'anice prodotto nelle Marche
• Greece: Ouzo
• Bulgaria and Macedonia: Mastika
• Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Albania: Rakı
• Lebanon, Syria, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt: Arak
• Japan: Alaki

Notes and references

1. Regulation (EC) No. 110/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 January 2008 on the definition, description, presentation, labelling and the protection of spirit drinks. no. 25 defines "Aniseed-flavoured spirit drinks are spirit drinks produced by flavouring ethyl alcohol of agricultural origin with natural extracts of star anise (Illicium verum Hook f.), anise (Pimpinella anisum L.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.), or any other plant which contains the same principal aromatic constituent, using one of the following processes or a combination thereof:” Etc. Ibid. n. 26 defines: "Pastis is an aniseed-flavoured spirit drink which also contains natural extracts of liquorice root (Glycyrrhiza spp.), which implies the presence of the colorants known as 'chalcones' as well as glycyrrhizic acid, the minimum and maximum levels of which must be 0,05 and 0,5 grams per litre respectively."
2. Blue, Anthony (2004). The Complete Book of Spirits. New York: HarperCollins. p. 283. ISBN 0-06-054218-7.
3. Cfr. Michael Jackson, Guía internacional del bar. Aguardientes. Aperitivos. Combinados. Licores, Traducción española de Michael Jackson's Pocket Bar Book , 3ª ed.,Barcelona, 1994, ad vocem Absenta.
4. Zurdo, David; Gutiérrez, Ángel (2004). El libro de los licores de España. Ediciones Robinbook. p. 50. ISBN 9788496054127. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
5. Eaude, Michael (2007). Catalonia: A Cultural History. Oxford UP. p. 113. ISBN 9780199886883. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
6. Hemingway, Ernest (2006). The Sun Also Rises. Simon and Schuster. p. 162. ISBN 9780743297332. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
7. Lowry, Malcolm (2012). Under the Volcano: A Novel. Open Road Media. p. 24. ISBN 9781453286296. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
8. Dominique Mertens Impex. S.L., Ojén, aguardiente superior, official website, in Spanish
9. New Orleans Nostalgia, "Banana Republics and Ojen Cocktails", Ned Hémard, 2007
10. Franz, Carl; Havens, Lorena (2006). The People's Guide to Mexico. Avalon Travel. p. 96. ISBN 9781566917117. Retrieved 15 February 2013.