Liqueurs

Sambuca

Sambuca is a clear Italian anise liqueur, and Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, retained in GB law, defines it on its own terms: colourless, flavoured with distillates of anise, star anise or other herbs, with at least 350g of sugar a litre and at least 38% ABV. Most bottles sit at about 40%. It is usually taken neat after a meal, often with coffee beans in the glass, and forms the heavy bottom layer of our Slippery Nipple.

Quick Facts

ABV40% ABVRegulation (EC) No 110/2008 sets the minimum at 38%; most bottlings run 38 to 42%.

Legal categoryLiqueurAt least 38% ABV and 350 g/L sugar under Regulation (EC) No 110/2008; colourless by definition

OriginItaly

Flavour Strengthstrong

Our keeping timeYears unopened. Once opened, a year or more kept sealed and out of the light; the fruit and aromatics fade first.

Storage

Sealed and upright: sugar and proof preserve it indefinitely.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens. Recipes vary by brand: check the bottle.

The ingredient

About Sambuca

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

AniseSweetClean

Tasting Notes

Sweet and strongly anise, with a warming finish; thicker in the mouth than an anise spirit because of its sugar.

A liqueur defined by its sugar and its anise

Most liqueurs need only 100g of sugar a litre and 15% ABV. Sambuca's own definition asks for 350g and 38%, a colourless liquid, and anise flavour from distillates of anise, star anise or other herbs, with natural anethole held between one and two grams a litre. That combination makes it far sweeter than Pernod, which its owner gives as 2.7g of sugars per 100ml, and much stronger than most liqueurs.

Neat, long, layered or lit

Sambuca is served in more ways than most liqueurs, and each asks something different of the person pouring it. The table sets them out.

Ways to serve sambuca and what each needs

Neat, with coffee beans

Measure: 25ml
What happens: Sweet anise; beans add bitterness
Take care: One bean or three, by custom

Over ice or with water

Measure: 25ml with water to taste
What happens: Turns milky as it dilutes
Take care: Add water slowly

Layered (Slippery Nipple)

Measure: 25ml under 25ml Irish cream
What happens: Sugar keeps it at the bottom
Take care: Pour the cream over a spoon

Flamed

Measure: 25ml
What happens: Warms the glass, toasts the beans
Take care: Out before drinking; bottle away

Serve	Measure	What happens	Take care
Neat, with coffee beans	25ml	Sweet anise; beans add bitterness	One bean or three, by custom
Over ice or with water	25ml with water to taste	Turns milky as it dilutes	Add water slowly
Layered (Slippery Nipple)	25ml under 25ml Irish cream	Sugar keeps it at the bottom	Pour the cream over a spoon
Flamed	25ml	Warms the glass, toasts the beans	Out before drinking; bottle away

Water and ice cloud it as they cloud pastis and absinthe, but its sugar stays dissolved, so even a long, milky sambuca tastes sweet. Flaming warms the glass and toasts the beans; put it out before the glass reaches anyone's lips.

In our library it anchors one layered shot

The Slippery Nipple pours 25ml of white sambuca into a shot glass and floats 25ml of Irish cream over it. It works because sambuca's sugar makes it heavier than the cream liqueur; poured the other way round, the two mix. A drop of grenadine, if used, sinks through both. As written, the two layers come to roughly 1.4 UK units, chiefly from the sambuca.

Using it

Using Sambuca

Usage

Our one recipe, the Slippery Nipple, pours 25ml of white sambuca into a shot glass and floats 25ml of Irish cream on top. Its sugar makes it the denser liquid, so it is poured first; trickle the cream in over an upturned barspoon.

Pro Tip

For a clean layer in a Slippery Nipple, chill both liqueurs and run the cream down the back of a barspoon resting on the glass wall. Cold liquids mix less at the boundary, and a slow pour keeps the line sharp.

Top Tips

Pour the sambuca first in any layered shot. With 350g or more of sugar a litre it is heavier than cream liqueurs and sinks under them.
Lengthen it with cold water or ice if neat is too sweet. Water clouds it, as it does other anise drinks.
If you flame it, light it only in the glass, never near the bottle, and put the flame out before anyone drinks.
In our experience its sugar and strength preserve it for years after opening; store it capped, away from sunlight.

Possible Substitutions

Pernod: The same anise family, less sweet
Absinthe: With simple syrup: sharper, for layering emergencies

Production Method

Neutral spirit with distillates of anise, star anise or other aromatic herbs, sweetened with at least 350g of sugar a litre, with natural anethole of one to two grams a litre, as Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 requires.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is sambuca?

A clear Italian anise liqueur. Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, retained in GB law, gives sambuca a definition of its own: colourless, flavoured with distillates of anise, star anise or other herbs, with at least 350g of sugar a litre, between one and two grams of natural anethole a litre, and at least 38% ABV.

Why are there coffee beans in sambuca?

It is an Italian custom. The Oxford Companion, a secondary source, says sambuca is served con la mosca, “with the fly”: one or three coffee beans in the cup, which look a little like houseflies. Molinari’s own site lists the serve. When the glass is flamed, the heat toasts the beans before the flame is put out.

Should sambuca be set on fire?

Some serve it flamed, briefly, to warm the glass and toast the beans. If you do, light it only in a heat-proof glass, keep the bottle well away, put the flame out completely before drinking, and let the rim cool. A flame on 40% spirit can be almost invisible in daylight.

How strong is sambuca?

At least 38% ABV under Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, and most bottles are about 40%. That makes it unusually strong for a liqueur: the floor for a liqueur is 15%. One 25ml shot at that strength is 1.0 UK unit, the same as a single of gin.

Is sambuca the same as Pernod or pastis?

No. All three taste of anise, but Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 makes sambuca a liqueur of at least 350g of sugar a litre and holds pastis under 100g. Pernod Ricard’s nutrition panel gives Pernod 2.7g of sugars per 100ml. Both pastis and Pernod are spirit drinks rather than liqueurs, usually drunk long with water.

Why does sambuca turn cloudy with water?

Its anise flavour comes from anethole, which stays in solution at full strength and separates out as water or melting ice weakens it, leaving a milky haze. Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 requires one to two grams of anethole a litre, enough to make the effect plain.

Where does the name sambuca come from?

From the Latin sambucus, elderberry, as the Oxford English Dictionary has it, the Oxford Companion reports. It also offers sambuchelli, boys who sold aniseed water on Ischia, and the Arabic zammut. The Companion dates commercial sambuca to 1851, when Luigi Manzi began making it near Civitavecchia. Regulation (EC) No 110/2008 defines modern sambuca by its anise, not by elder.

Sources.

Checked between 16 October and 19 October 2026.

legislation.gov.uk, “Regulation (EC) No 110/2008, Annex II (retained)”.
Pernod Ricard, “Pernod” (owner’s brand page with the nutrition panel (Pernod 40% ABV; 2.7g sugars per 100ml)).
The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Antonio Parlapiano), “sambuca” (secondary source: commercial production from 1851 by Luigi Manzi near Civitavecchia; the name’s possible roots; Molinari from 1945; con la mosca).
Molinari, “How to drink Sambuca Molinari” (producer’s page: con la mosca, a coffee bean as the “fly”).

Make something

Made with Sambuca

Featured In These Cocktails

Slippery Nipple

Often Used With

Updated 19 October 2026

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