Every connoisseur of alcoholic beverages should know well how to drink sambuca at home or at the bar. There are several different ways to drink this alcohol, we will look at each of them. Subsequently, you can choose the method that you liked most.
In its pure form. The sambuca is both a good aperitif and an excellent digestif. Therefore, it can be drunk in its pure form before and after meals.
With water or ice. Unlike whiskey, sambuca behaves perfectly with ice - it perfectly quenches thirst. Cold water helps to reveal the taste of the drink completely, as in the case of absinthe, sambuca becomes cloudy when water is added, due to the content of essential oils in it, which form an emulsion with water. The amount of water is selected individually, to taste, so to speak.
Frozen. Put the bottle in the freezer for several hours. After, you will get a great soft drink that you can drink in pure form with a slice of orange or lemon.
Fiery method. Suitable just for medicinal purposes: you need to set fire to the drink and let it burn, and then drink it warm, without having a bite.
How to drink in Italy: In a glass with sambuca put 3 whole grains of coffee, which symbolize health, wealth and happiness. In many sources, this method is accompanied by setting the drink on fire, but in genuine sources I did not find this - the grains act as a snack and give the sambuca a piquant taste.
The two-glass method. It is also sometimes called the “powerful effect method”, in fact, it is traditional for night clubs. We need cognac (snifter), rox (a glass with wide straight walls), a napkin, a straw, a saucer, a lighter, 3 coffee beans and a sambuca (25-50 ml). Grains in this case are a tribute to the classic Italian recipe - they need to be put in cognac, and add sambuca there. Before setting fire, prepare a “platform” for the vapors: put a napkin with a hole in the middle on a saucer, where you pass the short part of the tube:
Put cognac on the rox, lightly warm it with a lighter and set fire to the contents. Then rotate the burning glass by the leg around its axis for 10-60 seconds, depending on your preference. After, pour the burning sambuca into the rox and cover it with cognac on top - the flame will go out. Transfer the inverted cognac on a saucer. Drink sambuca and breathe through the tube in pairs of cognac, chew the grains. The sequence can be changed: first breathe in pairs, and then drink a drink. For a show-off, so to speak, you can drip the rest of the drink onto the bottom of the inverted cognac and inhale them through the short tube with your nose.
Extreme way. This option is exclusively club and requires some skill from the bartender. In the first case, you need to pour sambuca into your mouth, wipe your lips dry and throw your head back without closing your mouth. The bartender should set fire to the drink right in your mouth. When you feel a slight heat, close your mouth and swallow the drink. This method makes an impression, but the danger here is minimal. In the second case, the drink is heated in cognac and poured into the mouth directly burning. Do not try to repeat this at home, since the bathing method of consumption requires skill and the firm hand of an experienced bartender. It is very important not to get scared and not to close your mouth; for insurance, the area around the mouth can be moistened with water.
Sambuca at home. Take a ceramic teapot and fill it with boiling water. Then, drain the water from the kettle and immediately add 50 ml of sambuca. Shake the contents and drink, but before that, exhale deeply and inhale the vapors of the drink through the spout of the kettle.
As part of cocktails. Sambuca is good in that it has a high density, which means that it can be used as the basis for shots. Its transparency also plays into the hands, which allows you to make the drink even more spectacular by dropping Beilis or Grenadine (pomegranate syrup) into it. It is rarely added to long drinks, because the anise flavor dominates the cocktail and interrupts the rest of the ingredients. Of the shots with sambuca, the most popular are Hiroshima (sambuca, Beilis, absinthe, Grenadine), Kazantip (Kalua, sambuca, Grenadine, Beilis and absinthe) and, probably, Audi (sambuca, Malibu, Cointreau, white rum).
