| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Active: | 15 min |
| Yield: | 1 quart |
Ingredients
- 1 quart vodka
- 2 cups fennel fronds, loosely packed
- 85 grams granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon cardamom seeds
- 10 green cardamom pods
- 1 whole star anise
Instructions
- Install an immersion circulator in a water bath and set it to 140 degrees F.
- Place the vodka, fennel fronds, sugar, fennel seeds, cardamom seeds, green cardamom pods and star anise in a one-gallon zip-top freezer bag (see Cook’s Note). Remove as much of the air from the bag as possible then seal and submerge the bag in the bath for 1 hour (see Cook’s Note).
- Transfer the unopened bag to an ice water bath. Once cool, strain the mixture through a coffee filter set inside a sieve and discard the solids. Don’t squeeze or press the solids to extract additional liquid: It will cloud the liqueur and release off flavors.
- Chill before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 12 servings |
| Calories | 207 |
| Total Fat | 0 g |
| Saturated Fat | 0 g |
| Carbohydrates | 9 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Sugar | 8 g |
| Protein | 0 g |
| Cholesterol | 0 mg |
| Sodium | 9 mg |
Reviews
Love the flavor and easy to make! I use it in a cocktail with fresh lime juice and ginger beer. Thanks Alton!
Simple and amazing flavor from just your basic ingredients. It’s no Chart****** with 130 herbs, or a
Bénéd**** with 27 ingredients (censored on purpose because lol.. the episode.. lol..).. but sometimes simple is all you need. Anethole is wonderful, aromatic, and a great addition to any spirit. I tweaked the recipe a little bit by using a higher proof vodka than the usual 80 proof (40%).. thinking it might extract a bit more as well as adding a few more fronds. Mine is 94 proof, btw.
Came out a very rich, dark green color and after a day has already started to change color. The aroma is strong and I made it higher proof on purpose to be able to enjoy it on the rocks to dilute it down with ice. I have yet to see the ouzo effect, and will probably need to dilute it down further to see if that happens.. (I suspect it should..) and hopefully that will open up a new flavor profile as it usually does for other anise-based spirits.
This was an interesting use for my I.C. I’ve been looking for new ways to use my I.C. and this was great. I love the flavor of the fennel and cardamom. I used my yogurt strainer and just cut a small tip of the bag off and let the cordial pour out. All the fennel etc. stayed in the bag. I did have to use the whole bulb of fennel since there was a meager choice of any bulbs with enough fronds to make 2 cups but it still worked.
This tastes great, especially considering the meager investment in time and money. I thought it looked a little cloudy after the first filtering. After the second filtering, it was a little less cloudy and significantly less flavorful. So only filter once!