Sambuca

Sambuca is an Italian liqueur made by infusing Witch Elder Bush and licorice. I’m guessing you already know what licorice is, and I’m gonna leave it up to your imagination as to what the hell Witch Elder Bush is. 

Suffice it to say, Sambuca is a licorice-flavored booze that tastes very similar to the anise-flavored Ouzo, the national beverage of Italy’s close neighbor, Greece. Sambuca comes in at 25% alcohol-by-volume, or 50 proof. Grappa is a clear, distilled alcohol produced from grapes. It’s not particularly unique in this respect, it’s common to serve either of them by themselves with few coffee beans floatin’ on top. The difference with Sambuca is that they will traditionally light it on fire, letting it burn for about 30 seconds before snuffin’ it. The result is a warm, smooth licorice buzz. Uhmmm…