Here’s the first mystery:
To everyone except maybe my sister, this image is a mystery. Y’all are wondering what the heck is that stuff. Some of you are thinking gross, disgusting thoughts about what it might be. I assure you – it is not what you think.
The second mystery is what will explain the first. Mystery #2 is: just what the heck is in Sambuca? It smells like licorice. It tastes like licorice. When I searched for what Sambuca has in it, there were some recipes consisting solely of star anise, vodka and simple syrup. I refused to believe that was authentic. If we were talking about Anisette, sure. I could believe that. Not Sambuca, though.
The more I searched, the more mysterious it became. I was certain that one of the main ingredients in Sambuca had to be elderberries and/or elder flowers. This conclusion was based on the fact that I saw elder mentioned and the botanical name for elder is Sambucus.
I’ve had such fun making Limoncello & it came out so good, I was determined that I was going to figure out how to make Sambuca. I got all the ingredients that I saw mentioned on various websites: elderberries, elder flowers, licorice, star anise. I figured I’d cover all the bases & just get everything.
That’s where it got even more confusing. Neither the elderberries nor the elder flowers smelled anything even remotely like licorice. Stranger still, the licorice root didn’t smell like licorice. Wouldn’t you think licorice root, the very thing licorice is named for, would smell like it’s supposed to??
And so the great Sambuca experiment will be carried out. That is what is in the photo – experiment #1. It seems an awful lot of liqueurs and brandies are made by monks so who better to pull off an experiment like this, eh?
I want to know how this works out. You need to start your own vineyard.