MolinBerry Anise Star
Kittybit8
Knowing that anise and licorice are one of those lesser used - and also enjoyed flavors, u/isuamadog and yours truly set out sail to try a few of them and share our notes with you.
They might be useful to someone out there.
Hence, this is not classified as a flavor review, but more of guidelines.
We tested the following:
- TFA Horehound
- INW Lukrecja (INW Liquorice)
- MB Anise Star
- FA Anise
- TFA Absinthe
Horehound:
We started this at 1% and neither of us picked up a whole lot of flavor, other than some menthol - this was around 55w to 60w. Along the menthol, we detected weak notes of caramel some anise. The one that stood out was really the menthol.
We bumped it up to 1.5% and oh dear... The menthol packs a punch at that point and we started to detect more fruity notes here - sort of citrusy notes.
It's very light on the licorice, hence we can see this being used for many other things than just a licorice.
u/isuamadog mentioned it could work well in a citrus soda as an example.
Suggested starting point of this in a mix would be 0.25-0.5% and go from there.
We probably wouldn't pair this up against bakeries and tobaccos, but anything else it can definitely work with, as it does have many nuances to it.
u/ediblemalfunction made a Ricola style candy using it.
INW Lukrecja (INW Liquorice):
We solo tested this at 1% and the flavor here surprised us.At first, it was SUPER weird - It's a typical case of you reading the label and expect a flavor, but you're getting something else. Typically, that's a bad thing, but in this case it was a very positive experience.
The flavor here has nothing to do with licorice - not in the sense of anise or salmiak at least. It does have tones of it, kinda like VT Fig, but the flavor for this one is almost a spot on spiced prune.
It does lack some throat hit and that spice is hard to detect what is - but it's there.
The spice comes with some smoked notes as well plus it has a very delightful round texture.
u/isuamadog said and I quote: "almost smoked, like you took a prune and toasted it on the grill".
What makes this one really unique is the almost jelly-ish body it has. It's sweet, but not sweet as a candy - natural sweetness would be the correct term.
Pairings for this would definitely be bakeries and tobaccos and definitely with other licorice flavors as well - such as FA Black Touch.
Can also be used with darker fruits - but should probably be kept away from the more brighter fruits.
In a mix, this can probably be used anywhere from 0.25-1%.
MB Anise Star:
Started this at 1% and before we even tried it, we noticed it had a very weak smell.
Based on that, we already from the begining bumped it up to 1.5%.
No licorice flavor this one at all. What we could detect was what the label says - Anise star spice. But also comes with extra added sweetness, that kinda made it a little weird.
We agreed, that this flavor is what FLV Root Beer is missing.
After that, we found our big boy pants and bumped it up to 3% just to see what would happen.
Surprisingly little actually. Not much changed in the flavor, with the exception that a minor of the sweetness went away and the anise appeared a little brighter. Although, the anise was also accompanied by a terrible off-note of a metallic taste which was not pleasant at all.
That combined gives you a super weird after-taste, that doesn't really sit well with anything.
Pairings for this would again be beverages or teas. There are nothing about this flavor that we can see being used for anything but those.
Keep it low in a mix - 0.25-0.5%.
This was by far our least likeable of the tests we did.
FA Anise:
Starting off at 1% as per usual by now.
The smell of this - ooooh snap, it's delicious! It's a straight up anise as promised, but it also comes with an incredible good tasting under-note that almost has a "saltiness" to it.
Even at 1%, this packs a punch of flavor - so the category here is your typical FA flavor that works brilliant in lower percentages.
The notes in this are sharp and adds edge, but not in an uncomfortable way. This would have the ability to bend a mix and make it different.
It's rich and full in flavor, but it also stops in flavor quickly - meaning, the flavor is there and the next second, it gone again. This is one of those flavors that could work very well with CAP Licorice, as it does add what the CAP Licorice tend to be missing to make it a pure full licorice.
The background notes it comes with is very similiar to those notes you'd find in your typical Scandinavian licorice candy, which is very good.
Sweet, salty and full - in that order. And it brings that very delicious "zing" that makes flavors really pop.
Parings for this one is a bit of a broad term. It can work very well in candies, but also in spiced and floral mixes, beverages, tobaccos - maybe not so much in bakeries, but I'm sure someone will make that work too. All around, we can almost see this work with anything - except bright fruits, no!
In a mix it's a 0.3-0.5% type - higher than that and it would take over and bully anything you'd pair it with.
TFA Absinthe:
We'll be honest with you. This one terrified us before we even started, but none the less; big boy pants out and on and we hit it straight off at 5%.
To start out, the smell of this is straight up absinthe - no more, no less.Taste-wise, we have probably never come across a single flavor that had this many nuances as TFA Absinthe does. One moment it's sweet, the next it gets weird and finally it bitter and delicious. All three stages lingers in your mouth at the same time at the end.
Weird taste, but so seriously delicious.
As many other salmiak based (and I do believe this is salmiak based, not anise), TFA Absinthe comes with a tongue-numbing "zing" to it. Some like it, some don't. For u/isuamadog and I it's a win.
The sweetness this flavor comes with is very welcoming and it does blend in well with the salmiak the licorice in it comes with.
Parings for this one would be booze, as it does lack the boozy vibe to it. Maybe some whiskey or gin - whatever booze floats your boat and does it for you.
There are a good amount of recipes on ATF for this one, ranging everywhere from candy to beverages, hell even a fruit mixture as well.
In a mix, this would probably do its best around 2-3%.
That was pretty much what we had for you. We apologize, that we didn't add in the hardware used, but there were two of us after all. We do hope, that someone will find this information useful, should they want to jump into a darker rabbit hole.