A unique Italian liqueur that is often underutilized in the world of mixed drinks, sambuca is a clear alcohol with the distinct flavor of star anise. The sweet, licorice flavor of this alcohol makes it rather divisive, but many individuals love the strong flavor and are happy to drink it neat or mixed into an interesting cocktail.
Below, we give you more information about what you can expect sambuca to taste like, the exact ingredients of sambuca, and how this drink is commonly served. Once you’re equipped with this essential sambuca knowledge, you can start to make use of this distinctive liqueur.
Sambuca: The Main Facts
Sambuca is a liqueur that originates from Italy and is created with alcohol distilled from grains, sugar, and the essential oils of star anise and elderflowers. Traditionally, sambuca is clear in appearance, though black, red, and even green varieties are available. The color of this liqueur changes based on the essential oils and other ingredients added to it.
Sambuca is considered to have a sweet taste, and it has distinctive notes of licorice. This liqueur may taste more botanical depending on the other essential oils added to it and the content of elderflowers blended into the drink.
In Italy, the common way to serve sambuca is neat with three coffee beans in the glass to represent health, happiness, and prosperity. Occasionally, the glass of sambuca is briefly flambeed to toast the coffee beans, and the fire is extinguished before consuming the drink. You may also see sambuca being served neat with a splash of water to bring out its flavors.
Sambuca isn’t perceived as a very sought-after or common drink in the United States, and this is mostly due to its distinctive licorice taste and sweetness that many individuals prefer to avoid. (It's similar to Amaro if you want to use that as a point of reference.) However, sambuca is growing in popularity when it comes to more unique cocktails and mixed drinks due to the spicy-sweet taste and intriguing aroma it can bring to these creations.
What Is the Alcohol Content of Sambuca?
The alcohol content of sambuca ranges from around 30 to 42 percent alcohol by volume (ABV), though the most common brands of sambuca tend to have an ABV of around 40 percent.
What Is Sambuca Made From?
Sambuca is made from a base of pure alcohol derived from grains or, occasionally, molasses. It also features the essential oils of star anise and elderflowers, in addition to containing sugar. Sambuca may have other botanicals or essential oils added depending on the intended flavor and color of the liqueur.
What Is the Primary Ingredient of Sambuca?
The primary ingredient in sambuca is pure grain alcohol and star anise. These ingredients are accompanied by sugar and elderflowers, and different variations or colors of sambuca may have varying botanicals to give them their color and taste.
How Is Sambuca Made?
Sambuca is made from the process of combining distilled alcohol with essential oils and sugar.
The first step in making sambuca is obtaining alcohol created from grains or molasses. This alcohol is then combined with essential oils that have been distilled from sambuca’s key ingredients of star anise, elderflowers, elderberries, or other botanicals.
Once the essential oils have been distilled, they are mixed with water and sugar to form a flavored syrup. This syrup is then combined with the alcohol and set aside to mature. As the alcohol matures, stronger flavors and a more developed, balanced taste will appear in the sambuca.
After the sambuca has fully matured, it is filtered to make sure that the liqueur is free from impurities. The sambuca is then prepared for bottling and distribution.
How Is Sambuca Distilled or Filtered?
Sambuca is distilled and then filtered, as it is made from grains that have been distilled into alcohol. Essential oils are then distilled from star anise and the elderflowers or other botanicals used to create the sambuca. Once the flavors have had time to infuse into the sambuca, it is filtered and prepared for bottling.
Can You Make Sambuca Yourself?
It’s not recommended to make sambuca yourself, as this process is generally lengthy and expensive. In order to make sambuca from start to finish, you will need a distillery set up, and you will need to create essential oils from anise, elderflowers, or other botanicals and flavorings that you wish to add to your sambuca. You will also need to create a sugar syrup.
The easiest way to create sambuca at home is by mixing food-grade anise and elderflower essential oils with sugar syrup and a clear, flavorless alcohol, like regular vodka.
This may do the trick if you need to recreate the distinctive sambuca flavor easily, but we recommend that you invest in a quality bottle of sambuca for your future mixing needs. This will ensure the best quality and flavor.
Embracing Sambuca
Sambuca is a somewhat polarizing liqueur due to its strong licorice taste and overall sweetness, but you shouldn’t let what you’ve heard about this liqueur stop you from embracing it.
Sambuca may be consumed neat, as a shot with coffee beans if you’re going the traditional route, or as part of an exceptional cocktail. Try mixing some sambuca with coffee or simply enjoying it after dinner as a digestif to make the most out of this liqueur and its unique flavor. If the idea of an after-dinner drink tickles your fancy but you want something creamy instead, we highly recommend Irish Cream or other coffee liqueurs.
