Aniseed and Other Flavored Spirits

Name the 3 common features of all flavored spirits

Base sprits: usually a highly rectified spirit but also Cognac and whisky

Flavors and flavorings: fruits and botanicals (herbs and spices)

Coloring (optional): natural plant extracts or artificial

What is a natural flavor?

One that is directly extracted from a fruit or botanical

What is a nature-identical flavor?

One that has been manufactured but is chemically identical to, and tastes the same as a natural flavor

When is coloring added to a liqueur?

Near the end of the process

Describe two types of coloring techniques

Natural colors: extracted from plant material by maceration

Artificial colors: chemical dyes approved for human consumption

Why are artificial coloring used?

More vivid and stable than natural coloring

Do premium spirit producers use artificial colors?

Yes

Name four techniques for natural flavor extraction

Maceration: ffruit or botanical placed in diluted HRS for hours to months, heated or not

Distillation: diluted HRS and botanicals placed in pot still

Steam distillation: botanical mixed in a reservoir of water or suspended above it

Vacuum distillation: variation of distillatioun or steam distillation but liquid boils at lower temperature

Percolation: spirit is repeatedly dripped through the botanical

How is a final flavored spirit made?

Blend to even out batch variation: Some use only one flavor extraction technique (e.g., London Dry Gin).

Blend different components: Different flavor extraction techniques used for different components

Cold compounding: Nature-identical flavors blended into base spirit

What botanicals are used to make absinthe?

Aniseed flavors are from star anise, green anise, and fennel

Wormwood adds a musky floral note an a bitter quality (but not predominate)

Must absinthe contain grand wormwood (artemisia absinthium)?

Yes. While there is no legal definitions, most are agreed it must contain wormwood.

How is classic absinthe made?

Botanicals are macerated in high strength alcohol (wine-based or HRS) for 24 hours

It is then diluted, redistilled with botanicals, and collected at 80% abv

How can you tell if a absinthe is an imitation?

A classic absinthe louches when water is added

Absinthes made by adding extracts to alcohol (imitations) do not

What is thujone?

Toxin in absinthe that can cause convulsions in extremely high doses

Thujone levels are controlled (10ppm in USA, 35ppm in EU)

19C "absinthism" was chronic alcoholism

Where was anise first used by distillers?

Turkey (Byzantine Empire)

What is the most famous/infamous anise drink?

Absinthe was popular in the 19C

Wrongly linked to disease and moral decay so banned in 20C

Pastis filled the gap

What is the flavor compound that all anise drinks share

Anethole

What plants contain anethole?

Star Anise

Anise

Fennel

What is louching?

When water is added to a spirit containing anethole it goes cloudy

Anethole is not easily soluable in water so comes out of solution

How are anise-based spirits drunk?

Diluted with water so no stronger than wine

How is flavor extracted for anise-based spirits?

Many techniques are used to create several flavored spirits that are blended to create the final product

Do anise-based spirits use artificial colors?

Yes, even the best producers

Define an aniseed-flavored spirit

Predominant flavor of anise extracted fro star anise, anise, fennel or any plant with same aromas

HRS with flavor obtained by maceration and/or distillation and addition of extracts

Only natural flavors can be used

Define Pastis

Anise-flavored spirit made from liquorice root at well

Bottled at 40% abv

Anethole levels between 1.5 and 2g/l

Can be sweetened up to 100g/l

Define Pastis de Marseille

Same as Pastis but higher alcohol and anethole

Bottled at 45% abv

Anethole level must be 2g/l

How does Pastis differ from Absinthe?

Absinthe is dry and served with sugar

Name two brands from Pernod Ricard (rivals merged in 1975) that dominate anise-flavored spirits

Pernod Anise:

Ricard Pastis: blend of distilled Chinese star anise and fennel, percolated Middle East liquorice root, herbs from Provence, neutral alcohol and sugar (<100 g/l)

Name Aniseed drinks other than Absinthe and Pastis

Ouso: Greek equivalent of pastis

Raki: Turkey

Name 3 types of bitters

Apertifs: palate sharpener before a meal

Digestifs: Sweeet (Unicum, Becherovka, Calisay, Averna) and Bitter (Fernet Branca, Jagermeister, Underberg, Carlsbad)

Cocktail: bottled at high strength (Angostura, Peychaud)

What is a bitter?

Distilled to obtain an essential oil or macerated in HRS.

Natural bittering agents include cinchon bark/quinine, angelica, gentian, bitter orage, rue, artichokes, rhubarb, bitter aloe

Base is aromatized by clove, vanilla, coriander, ginger, sweet peels, etc.

May be sweetened.

What is the history of bitters?

Romans consumed bitters as an aid to digestion.

Italy has greatest following (and calls them amaro).

What is the history of Angostura bitters?

1824: Created in the Venezuelan town of Angostura ("narrows" of Orinoco river) now Ciudad Bolivar) as a medicinal drink for troops of Simon Bolivar

1830: Exported to England and Trinidad

1862: Pink gins (gin and Angostura) created

1876: Moved to Trinidad (by Dr. Johann Siegert's brother and son after his death in 1870)