Homemade French Pastis Recipe

Ann Marie Michaels -

Have you ever wanted to make homemade French pastis?

What if I told you you having a cocktail, or apéritif, before dinner is a great way to improve digestion and absorption of nutrients, and kill parasites?

If you love the flavor of licorice like I do, you're going to love this apéritif. And I'm not talking about that nasty licorice candy... those yucky black and red sticks. I'm talking about the real flavor of licorice, which comes from anise and fennel seeds.

Anise and fennel are naturally not only anti-parasitic, they are anti-helmintic, which means don't just kill parasites, they kill intestinal worms.

Guys, this is a power tool for detox. And it's so delicious.

Jump down to the recipe.

Why Drink French Pastis?

Like I said, pastis is anti-parasitic. It's made with star anise, anise and fennel seeds, which are all anti-parasitic herbs.

Actually, pastis isn't just anti-parasitic it's anti-helmintic – which means it kills worms.

So you can take your Ivermectin, sure, but if you enjoy a cocktail before dinner why not make it a dewormer and kill two birds with one stone?

And this is a whole lot tastier than Ivermectin, bien sûr.

When to Drink French Pastis

The French typically drink an apéritif before the evening meal. L'heure de l'apéritif (the hour of the apéritif) is what we call Happy Hour – the time just before dinner.

Sometimes they will drink a Kir or Kir Royale (which I love) but often, especially in hot summer months, pastis is the drink of choice for an apéritif.

They usually serve the with snacks (called hors d'oeuvres) such as nuts, olives, pickles, pate or anchovies and bread or crackers.

The apéritif and hors d'oeuvres get your digestive juices (hydrochloric acid) flowing which helps you digest your dinner better and absorb all those nutrients. And, yes, kill parasites!

How to Drink French Pastis

I love pastis on ice, diluted with a little filtered water. I often have a small glass (a couple of ounces) or two before dinner in the summertime before dinner.

You can also use pastis to make one of my all-time favorite cocktails, the Sazerac.

Photo by Stephan Coudassot / Unsplash

Why Make Your Own French Pastis?

Like I said above, it just tastes so much better. Far superior.

It's probably also stronger in terms of the anti-parasitic properties (deworming) than storebought. I can't prove that but I bet it is true.

Not only that, but it's fun and so easy to make at home. And I think this would make a stellar Christmas gift.

Oh, and did I mention it's a lot cheaper to make this yourself? I just checked and a liter bottle of Ricard pastis will cost you about $30 at the time of this writing.

You can buy a liter of Everclear for about half that – maybe even cheaper if you can find it on sale. After adding the herbs and sugar, you're still probably saving like 30-40% making this at home.

Where to Buy French Pastis

There are different brands of pastis. Pernod is probably the most famous brand. Most liquor stores will have it.

I personally prefer Ricard. I like the flavor a little better. Also sold in most liquor stores.

However, I think you will find that the homemade pastis is vastly superior to Pernod or Ricard. Buy a bottle of each and do a taste test comparing your homemade pastis. I think you will be amazed. I was.

If you're in France, you can get lots of other varieties of pastis. They are harder to find here in America.

Recipe Notes

I modified this recipe from the Serious Eats recipe.

I tested that recipe and it worked great. However, I didn't like that they used 3 cups of vodka. That's silly. Why not use the whole bottle and make more? Trust me, you will want more – it's so good.

So I decided to take this recipe to 11 and make it using 2 whole bottles (2 liters) of alcohol.

Food Processor or Mortar & Pestle

It was a snap to make this with a food processor – just pulse several times. I love my Cuisinart.

If you prefer, you can use an old fashioned mortar and pestle.

Everclear or Vodka?

You can use either Everclear or vodka for this pastis recipe.

I have just been using Everclear because it's cheaper. And it comes out great. Either one will work. I think I will try vodka next time – I wonder if it will taste even better.

Where to Get the Spices

You can get all the spices on Amazon. I linked to the cheapest per ounce to save you the trouble.

You can also use the herbs for other things. I like to keep my star anise on hand to make homemade chai, which I really love to drink in the fall and winter. And yes, chai is also anti-parasitic and anti-hemintic (deworming).

Homemade Pastis Recipe

Makes 2.3 liters, or about 10 cups or 80 servings

Ingredients

Equipment

Instructions

  1. Add the Everclear or vodka in even amounts to few 3 quart-sized mason jars or other glass jars – whatever you have handy.
  2. Using a food processor or a mortar and pestle, break up anise pods, licorice root, fennel, coriander, and anise seeds. If using food processor, pulse several times just to break them up, until you get a whiff of aroma. Do not over-process into a powder.
  3. Add equal amounts to each jar with the alcohol.
  4. Seal and shake, then let steep for a week or so on the counter or in a cupboard, away from direct sunlight, shaking occasionally to mix.
  5. Add sugar and water to a saucepan. Bring to a boil and cook until it forms a light syrup, about 5-10 minutes.
  6. Remove from heat. Transfer to a glass Pyrex measuring cup to cool – and to make it easier to pour.
  7. While the syrup is cooling, strain the spices out of the alcohol mixture using cheesecloth lining a fine-mesh strainer.
  8. Strain at least twice, or as many times as necessary, to remove all sediment.
  9. Transfer equal amounts to 3 1-liter size glass bottles.
  10. Once syrup has cooled, add it to the strained vodka infusion in equal amounts to the bottles, cover and shake to mix. Store at room temperature – it will keep for many months. But you will probably drink it faster than that!

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