Absinthe substitute

Substitutes for Absinthe with ratios

1. 2Herbsaint

   Close match

   Use the same amount

   A New Orleans anise liqueur created during Prohibition specifically to replace absinthe.

   What changes

   Best for

   Sazerac, Creole seafood dishes, oysters, absinthe rinse

   Historically this is what New Orleans bars actually used in a Sazerac for decades, so calling it a substitute understates it. Slightly sweeter and less bitter than absinthe, with a warm anise-and-fennel character and a little more sugar. In Creole cooking, where absinthe or Herbsaint gets splashed into oyster and shrimp dishes, it is the correct ingredient rather than a compromise.

2. 3Ouzo or raki

   Close match

   Use the same amount

   Greek and Turkish anise spirits, distilled with anise seed and usually only lightly sweetened.

   What changes

   Best for

   absinthe rinse, Sazerac, Corpse Reviver No. 2, fish stews

   Drier and cleaner than pastis, which arguably puts them closer to absinthe on the sweetness axis. What they lack is complexity: absinthe's flavour is anise layered over wormwood bitterness and a tangle of herbs, while ouzo is essentially pure aniseed. In a rinse that difference is small. In a Death in the Afternoon, where the anise spirit is half the drink, it tastes noticeably simpler and one-dimensional.

3. 4Sambuca

   Taste and texture differ

   Use 2 teaspoons for every 1 tablespoon absinthe

   Italian liqueur flavoured with star anise and elderflower, and heavily sweetened.

   What changes

   Best for

   absinthe rinse, desserts, sweet cocktails

   Fine for a rinse and easy to find, but roughly twice as sweet as absinthe and about a third the strength, with a floral elderflower note absinthe does not have. Used measure for measure in a cocktail it makes the drink taste like dessert, so use about two-thirds of the amount and remove any other sugar from the recipe. The anise aroma itself is close enough.

4. 5Green Chartreuse (rinse only)

   Different taste

   Use the same amount

   French herbal liqueur made by Carthusian monks from over a hundred botanicals.

   What changes

   Best for

   absinthe rinse, Corpse Reviver No. 2, herbal cocktails

   Not an anise substitute in any honest sense, and worth saying so plainly. Chartreuse is herbal, honeyed, minty and intensely complex, but it is not licorice-flavoured. Rinsing a glass with it produces a very good cocktail that is simply a different one: greener, sweeter and more medicinal-herbal rather than licorice-scented. Use it when you have nothing anise-flavoured and would rather serve a deliberate variation than a poor imitation.

5. 6Fennel seed and star anise infusion, or a trace of anise extract (no alcohol)

   Different taste

   ½ tsp crushed fennel seed plus 1 star anise point steeped in 2 tbsp hot water, or a scant 1/16 tsp anise extract

   The alcohol-free route to the anise aroma, best suited to cooking rather than cocktails.

   What changes

   Best for

   seafood stews, Creole dishes, poaching liquid, alcohol-free cooking

   Steep the crushed seeds and star anise in hot water or stock for ten minutes and strain. In a fish stew this genuinely works, because the licorice-fennel perfume is what you wanted. What cannot be reproduced without alcohol is the wormwood bitterness and the high-proof lift that flings the aroma out of the glass, which is exactly the mechanism behind an absinthe rinse. Anise extract works too, but it is fierce, so measure in drops.