review: Anisette Phénix
February 18th, 2008
- Category: anisette
- Alcohol: 45%
- Origin: France
- Manufacturer: M.G. Taïeb Distillateurs
- Bought at: Jewish butcher shop, Marseille, France
Anisette Phénix originally is an Algerian Jewish aperitive now produced in France. It is particularly associated with Jewish pieds-noirs, European colonists with French citizenship in Algeria. At some point in time in the twentieth century production moved from Algeria to France due to the unstable situation in Algeria, especially for Jews. According to the French Wikipedia Algerian anisette is made of star anise, just as French pastis and Italian Sambuca, but unlike the Arabic drinks as arak and zibib which is made of aniseed. According to the bottle it is made by macerating anise grains in a neutral grain spirit and subsequently distilling it. It is very sweet because of the added sugar (it is sweeter than pastis; arak is unsweetened) and it should be diluted with water. This liqueur is a nice drink, but I find it rather unimaginative because of its sweetness. 6/10.
External link: M.G. Taieb Kosher Products
External link: Wikipedia: Pied-Noir