183/365: National Anisette Day

If you subscribe to the phrase candy is dandy but liquor is quicker, you’ll be racing at top speed to celebrate today’s holiday. July 2 is National Anisette Day!

Today also marks the halfway point of our food challenge! Hard to believe we’ve successfully conquered six months’ worth of challenges. On the one hand we want to celebrate because we’re halfway to the finish line! On the other hand…we still have half a year to go. Yikes. But we’re making good progress!

If you’re wondering what exactly anisette is…so were we. It’s a potent anise-flavored liqueur popular in the Mediterranean, particularly in Spain, Italy, Portugal, and France. It may taste like licorice (blech), but contains no actual licorice, unlike other anise-flavored liqueurs. It’s sweeter than most, and has such a high alcohol content it can burn your throat if you drink it too fast.

I’m not going to lie: reading that scared the bejesus out of me!

Marie Brizard, a well-known French alcoholic beverage company, began producing anisette in 1755, the year they were founded. Anisette is closely related to absinthe, the notorious “green fairy” from Moulin Rouge that was banned in the U.S. until 2007. Reading this did not ease my trepidation in the least. Anisette is most often mixed with a little bit of water which, when swirled in a glass, brings out the essential oils in the alcohol, turning the drink milky-white. If that ain’t a neat parlor trick, I don’t know what is!

Tara and I are not fans of licorice. Rather than drinking anisette straight up, we made a cocktail called a typhoon. Here’s the recipe:

Chilled champagne
1 oz. gin
1/2 oz. anisette
1 oz. lime juice

Related articles

• Drinking in the Golden Age (theparisreview.org)
• Drinking up the native culture (muscleheaded.wordpress.com)