Sambuca d’Amante: anise and an Italian ritual
A clear Francoli sambuca at 40% ABV, dense and intensely anise-flavoured.
Green anise, Pimpinella anisum, in Köhler’s nineteenth-century atlas: flowers, fruits and botanical details. Public-domain illustration.
Franz Eugen Köhler · Image source · Public domain
A traditional anise liqueur
D’Amante is Francoli’s clear sambuca. The producer describes a dense liqueur with intense anise flavours. It belongs to an Italian tradition in which the end of a meal can continue with a small aromatic glass, sometimes accompanied by a gesture involving roasted coffee beans.
Four named aromatic ingredients
The recipe uses a distillate of an infusion of green-anise seeds, star anise, elderflowers and coriander seeds, with water, sugar and alcohol completing the blend. Green anise and star anise are distinct plants. Their related fragrance explains why both can work in the same drink, while a botanical drawing helps show their differences.
Sweetness and density
Sweetness gives roundness, and anise remains the dominant guide on the palate. Elderflower and coriander complete the clean, fragrant expression. D’Amante is 40% ABV: aromatic intensity and density are central to its style. It is a different choice from an amaro selected primarily for the strength of its herbal bitterness.
Coffee as a possible continuation
We offer a 4 cl measure. Francoli mentions con la mosca, with a few roasted coffee beans. The dedicated archive explains the contrast between sweet anise and the roasted flavour of the beans.
Sources and further reading
Explore more in our archives
Francoli: a family of distillers →
Sambuca: anise and sweetness →
Sambuca con la mosca: the coffee ritual →
