The source of licorice/liquorice/anise flavor
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- čas přidán 8. 06. 2024
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2021 paper on the role of temperature in the ouzo effect caused by anethole: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... - Jak na to + styl
A huge part of the absinthe scare was thanks to marketing by french wine industry.
They had taken a huge hit from a blight and hard liquor like absinthe stepped in to take the place of wine in france. As they rebounded they began a marketing campaign declaring the beneficial health effects of ‘natural’ alcohol like wines over the dangerous and delirious health effects of ‘unnatural’ distilled liquor.
Also it was really popular with communist
@@ryanrobot7975 that’s a grammatically sentence alright
spend enough money and be at a high enough social position and you can convince people even 200 years later that something is poison
@@superdark336 I'm just glad that potatoes aren't still considered as poison...I think I'm fine sans absinthe (but that's just me)
Absinthe was also tinted green using copper in 'low brow' places so that anybody wanting absinthe would be tricked into buying cheap alcohol that was tinted with chemicals. It was fatal.
I'm really enjoying this "plant chemistry" kick you've been on lately, more please!
@kuyswe In Germany that would be "Bio-Chemie" :D :D :D (Hint: the German word for organic is, yes, organisch, but also biologisch, like in organic food biologisch angebaute Nahrung. Casually called Bio.)
I'm wondering why he hasn't done a video on weed.
@kuyswe it can be
@@FreebirthOne Biochemistry is the term in English too, but it's not the same as organic chemistry. It describes the chemical processes inside living organisms - which a plant extract reacting to cold water while desolved in ethanol is not, obviously. Organic chemistry on the other hand is the study of all organic compounds and their reactions, so exactly what is talked about in this video.
So no, this is Organische Chemie, not Biochemie; and the terms are used exactly as in English.
@@Muenni Having studied a few Semester of Biologie I know exactly what is what :) I just took a few liberties here to make a bad joke. Because: the casual 'organic' really is 'biologisch' in German (think Thief of Time, Myria talking about the Hershebian Lawyer Beetle. How...very organic!)
I'm one of the people who LOVES this flavor. Black licorice is one of my favorite candies. Also love Absinthe, you name it. But I've also heard that there's some genetic marker that some people have and some don't that determines whether or not you taste it properly. Just a rumor, since this is a "I heard it from some guy on the internet" levels of anecdote, but it seems to make sense since it's such a "Love it or hate it" type of taste, no one I've met was ever ambivalent about licorice.
I read the same thing about it being genetic although I dont remember where, some science journal. Apparently its a Scandinavian genetic thing.
@@skdjirrrdjdm3926 It may also be an East Asian thing - star anise or (licorice for cheaper mixes) is used in Chinese Five Spice blends.
Side note: the similarity in taste to tarragon might be why I found it works surprisingly well in spaghetti sauce.
I like black licorice, but I'd choose a salty (and crunchy) food over a candy in general
You wouldn't love Absinthe if you got it from France. They still use a real amount of wormwood.
I was born in Canada to Danish parents. My older sister was born in Denmark. She developed a taste for licorice. I hate it. I can tolerate milder favors such as fennel but I hate the taste of licorice candy. I think it is more of an acquired taste.
In The Netherlands we have bread topping called "muisjes", litterally translated "little mice". They are anise seeds where the bulbous part of the seed is covered by a coating of sugar and optionally a little coloring (usually blue or pink and sometimes orange or other colors), the tail of the seed sticks out of the sugar bulb hence it's name of "little mice". This bread topping is traditionally served on rusks when a child is born (pink and white when it's a girl or blue and white when it's a boy), in dutch this is known as "beschuit met muisjes" (rusks with little mice). the orange and white option is usually sold around festivities that have to do with our royal family (the house of orange). They are also pretty tasty on just regular bread with a little layer of butter.
you also have gestampte muisjes.
It literally translates to "crushed mice". Enjoy.
it's basically anise powder with sugar.
My favorite bread topping next to marmite
They have the same thing in India!
I once bought something similar in a Asian foodmarket. Fennelseeds covered in sugar as a candy.
I imagine anis seeds even tastier.
Fun Fact. Oyster mushrooms also contain Anethol, the scent of Anise is one of the main factors in identifying them in the wild.
oyster mushrooms rule
This is fascinating to learn, a few months ago I grew some blue Oysters at home and could've sworn the colonised substrate gave off an aniseed smell
Interesting - thanks :)
That's what that weird sweet note is, wow 😲
Damn and i love those.
Plant chemist here. Anethole is actually not a terpenoid, but a phenylpropanoid! This is another interesting class of compounds which include cinnamaldehyde (cinnamon), vanillin, eugenol (cloves, nutmeg), and more. Phenylpropanoids are also closely related to lignin, the second most abundant biopolymer next to cellulose, and polyphenols, which include tannin and many antioxidants.
This guy is actually spot on and knows his stuff so the fact that the man made the video doesn't know what he's talking about while trying to educate us I'm never watching another video he makes.. how can you get something like that wrong but you're trying to be an educator?
@@brianthomason5022 I mean, I still watch Adams videos! I think they're great! Chemistry is hard, it's difficult to get everything right.
Do you know why some people like it? I'm wondering if it has a genetic component like cilantro. I love both, but real licorice is so hard to get I just chew anise seeds
@@dianamiller3307 I dont think anything like this has a simple explanation, even preference for coriander leaves. Food preferences are likely due to a combination of biology, psychology, and social context, as everything else.
@@minty9853 the taste of cilantro has a proven genetic component. Some people can taste a compound in it that is unpleasant. Nontasters cannot taste the compound and cilantro doesn't bother them. Then there are peoole like me who may be tasting something nontasters don't, but we like it.
Being Scandinavian, it seems absolutely insane to say that most people don't like licorice. It's everywhere here and is immensely popular. Especially when combined with chocolate.
Same as a Dutchy, I was so suprised that people in other country really don't like it
Im a swede and most people i know hate licorice. I feel like im the odd one out
I’m an American but I’m of Swedish descent - no wonder I always liked black licorice when most people I know prefer the red kind which isn’t really licorice at all.
American, but 100% turkish genes. I love black licorice, as do my parents. No clue how it works, but black licorice is awesome
@@Glovvox To someone from the Netherlands all licorice is black (because it's concentrated licorice root extract which is a dark brown before concentration by evaporation), but there are dozens of variations all seasoned differently with ingredients ranging from honey and herbal extracts to sal ammoniac salt.
I love ANETHOLE! Regardless of the source, licorice, anise, star anise, fennel, this is a wonderfully delicious taste that I, personally, really enjoy. Others may hate it, but the reality, the depth of flavor and what it adds to not just candy, but foods in general is amazing. So glad you made this video! (even if you aren't a big "anethole" fan) Flavors, like people, vary greatly, so understanding this very vibrant licorice-like flavor and what it adds to things, yes, absinthe is also up there with my beloved licorice experiences, make us appreciate the huge variety our taste-buds can experience and enjoy.
I have never tried fennel, really dislile licorice but enjoy star anise in drinks and spice blends. It's weird how it works hehe
BRUH you are build different.
There is also Anise hyssop and anise sage, unrelated anethole producers.
I don’t like super heavy onion flavors (so I usually use scallions or shallots instead), but having a hint of it in a dish just adds something you can’t identify but it makes it way better. People who don’t like anchovies also tend to still like things like Caesar dressing that include anchovies when the amount is low enough to not notice the fishiness. Anethole I think is the same way. Even people who don’t like it when they can identify it can enjoy what it brings when it’s more subtle. Italian sausage using fennel, or Chinese five spice with both star anise and fennel, for example.
Interesting little side note about absinthe: some also think that the "hallucinations" could have been caused by manufacturers of cheap absinthe adding copper oxide to make it green. This was the 1800s so health and safety weren't a thing yet
This is a tiny tiny theory and has no evidence whatsoever, by far the main understanding is that it was a myth, and based on the fact that there were recorded people talking about it as if it were a thing makes it almost entirely likely
It’s like the theory on the witch trials about the hallucinogen. Completely a theory with no evidence and its most likely just a result of people being shitty, just like in this case, without any substances
Well my Absinthe costs me about $70 USD for a litre bottle and I've never had any hallucinations from it. It will get you pretty drunk though if you're not careful!
Yeah, I'm not sure on this theory but, in a paper I wrote years ago I remember that Thoujone (the psychoactive drug in wormwood) is negated or denatured by alcohol thus, even at high concentrations of wormwood, it's still safe.
I thought the issue was heavy metal poisoning, that wouldn't be an issue in modern times with better equipment and better testing techniques. But, then again, I can't say that I've studied one way or another, but from what I understand, it's not any real risk these days beyond the typical damage of consuming drinks with that much alcohol in them.
I love licorice to an obsessive degree, and since noone ever likes it other than me i never have to share it!
Licorice and Coffee addicts.
Huzzah, man of quality!
You should try Ouzo, a Greek liquor flavored heavily with anise. Sold at most liquor stores, I’m sure you’d love it!
Dont come to the netherlands we will take all your Licorice for ourselves
Same, if you ran into my boyfriend's dad he thought it literally indicated you could be a demon, same for if you like spicy food. I like both so to put it mildly he was never a fan of me.
I feel that. I also enjoy not having to share my Sambuca with anyone lol
I lived in France for a couple of years and one of their favorite drinks was a glass of Ricard (Marseille pastis), which is brownish in color, mixed with ice and water, which made the drink become a cloudy white. I've always found it quite interesting and now I know it is due to the ouzo effect.
On the other hand, I am traumatized by the anethole flavor (or even just the smell) since living in Spain in 2012 chugging Absinthe and Anis del Moño shots every other day.
Tiger tail ice cream drizzled in sambuca is really good.
For those who don't know, tiger tail is a mix of orange and black licorice flavored ice cream. It's called tiger tail because the swirls make it look like a tiger stripe pattern.
What is »orange licorice«?
Not orange licorice. It's a mix of orange flavoured ice cream with a black licorice swirl.@@the_multus
Very interesting, as a Dutch person who loves liquorice it always surprises me how many people hate it’s flavour.
As a fun little fact, in the Netherlands it’s customary to eat ‘beschuit met muisjes’ when a child is born, muisjes meaning little mouse’s, which are anise seed covered in a sugar layer. They get there name because of the shape and the little ‘tail’ from the seed sticking out
Oh, I thought it was supposed to be mouse droppings...
@@bonenintomatensaus haha well that would be something. No it’s the shape of the covered seed (kind off teardrop shaped ) and the little piece that connected the seed to the plant that stick out as a ‘tail’
@@timvankeulen7462 Just for future information, the plural of mouse is mice. Also, Of and Off are two different words. Off is used for lights not being on, to remove something from the top of a table etc. This one could easily be a typo, but I see this error a lot and prefer to assume it's a mistake caused by lack of familiarity with English. It's to be expected though, as errors are normal. If it's a typo and you know that, then this part of the comment should just be disregarded.
Also, though this one is colloquially correct, "kind of" is grammatically incorrect. I use it all the time however, as do most other native English speakers. I wouldn't use it on a job application, or in some other important official setting though.
My intention is to help, not to insult. I do hope you will keep that in mind and will not feel insulted, but you are certainly entitled to feel insulted. Your feelings are your own.
@@flamerollerx01 Holy fucking shit man you must be super fun at parties.
Liquorice tastes like garbage. Salmiakki is the real shit. I eat it almost every day
As a licorice superfan, this video was made for me thank you Adam
Black licorice beats the artificial strawberry flavored rubber most people call licorice ten times out of nine. Both Twizzlers and Red Vines have absolutely nothing on a bag of licorice allsorts.
Same.
Black licorice needs Ammonium chloride/salmiak
Imho that's more important than the anathol.
@@tjenadonn6158 Same, I never particularly cared for that shitty bland "strawberry" flavored licorice.
Never tried that, but would want to.
As a home distiller, I love creating my own signature gins. Like absinthe , gin is made with alot of botanicals including star anise and licorice except you put the botanicals in a chamber inside the still,it allows your ethanol vapors to pass through this chamber as the distillation takes place, giving you a crystal clear but very flavorful gin that'll be like 150 proof. You've got to dilute this gin before consuming it and somtimes if you put to many botanicals, the gin will have an abundance of oils from them and when you dilute it,the distillate will go absolutely cloudy. Lol, I think my neighbors are afraid of it when it's like that but its actually much more flavorful gin than a clear one
Your cloudy Gin will have more etheric oils thans mass market ones and will quite logically have more taste! I‘d like to try with my Gentian Root Tonic Water 🤝
The same cloudiness that affects absinthe also occurs with craft-produced single malt whisky that has not been chill-filtered. Chill filtration strips most of the naturally-occurring oils in the spirit, so, if you add a small amount of water to a craft-produced single malt, it goes slightly cloudy.
Fun fact: Aniseed in Arabic is called "Yansoon" .. which is a homonym for the phrase "They Forget" .. This leads to some HYLARIOUS labeling mishaps on Aniseed packaging sometimes. Even Google Translate returns "They forget" as the translation to Yansoon.
Something that surprised me over the years is how I began to realize that my dislike of this anathol flavor is centered entirely on the context of it being in candy. The moment you take it out of that context and put it into a savory dish, I actually love it. I also really enjoy absinthe as long as it isn't too sugary. There's something about that combination of anise and sugar that's just very off-putting to me.
Wow, this is the exact opposite of another comment I read on this video. Where they can't handle it in savory dishes because they're used to tasting it in sweets
I kinda agree, I feel like it has a cloying quality like it's almost sweet already, and adding a lot of sugar intensifies that. Also I think that in savory foods the flavor tends to be more multifaceted, so that the anethol is not as dominant.
I'm exactly the same. Really dislike liquorice sweets and sambuca, but use anise and fennel often in cooking, and don't mind a bit of ouzo or absinthe from time to time.
same!
@@screwyourhandle I think it works as a very minor component of a sweet spice blend for similar reasons.
A hint among a lot of other, stronger flavors is good, but it's too much by itself.
LOVE licorice!!! Also love liver. Questioning others, many who like one like the other. An Italian friend taught me to to sauté fennel foliage in butter as a green veggie. Very good, very mild.
After all absinthe makes the heart grow fonder.
comment for the algorithm that noone will see : in russia and surrounding influenced countries, theres a drink called tarxun (russian for terragon, a visibly related word) which is made with terragon and colored bright green, its very iconic and really good as long as u like anithol
Yeah I saw it.
In Lebanon/Palestine/Syria we drink an anise alcohol called arak (similar to Greek ouzo and Turkish raki). It starts out very clear but then becomes white and cloudy when mixed with cold water (although I've seen some people have it pure).
Any booze that contains anise is good stuff XD
A friend left an arak glass with us when he departed for home; that is an amazing flavor, but I still prefer Sambuca if I'm going to consume alcohol at all. I put mine in a pilsner glass over chunks of dry ice and let it 'gel' until it barely pours!
@@misturchips Sambuca is too sweet, much like Pernod. I prefer my anise liqueurs on the drier side.
My favorite is the brand that begins and ends with a 'K'!
I've had a kind of Sri Lankan arak before, and that variety had no anethole flavour. (Thanks Adam for teaching me that word). Interesting info. Thanks for sharing!
Your balance of food science and traditional cooking content is so cool. Also a bit of a blessing for your channel because it's harder to run out of ideas lol
Yeah. It'd be interesting with an introduction to the next level: Ammonium chloride. Or “salmiakki” in Finnish. That's the salt in “salty liquorice. It's taste is indescribable. Slightly sweet, slightly salty. Not widely available south of the Netherlands. It's used for other culinary purposes than flavour, but it'd be interesting to know who first began eating it.
When I lived in France, I'd bring it from Denmark. Big plastic bags with white powder. Was never stopped.
it's why I almost never skip videos. It doesn't get old. whereas other cooking channels certainly do.
You do some really fascinating videos Adam. Thank you for all your work.
What I was waiting for you to mention was the very last sentence. Really had me on edge the entire video. Better than a goose bumps book.
Here's one more pointer about how Fennel seeds play a role in different cultures (Indian Food):
Adam's introductory line "Fennel has polarizing flavors" really came as a surprise to me since here in India, Fennel seeds play a vital role in food. Not primarily as a flavour compound (although it is present) but as a MOUTH FRESHNER.
Yeah, as unusual as it may seem. It is a staple part of every Indian meal to be ended with a pinch of Fennel seeds. (My fellow Indians could agree we all eat more than a pinch tho ;)
Fennel seeds in a sugar coating or just eaten as is has a cool mouthfeel, Which positively is necessary considering the heat induced on your tongue by a lot of Indian Dishes. And also, Fennel seeds coated in sugar taste really good.
Last time I was at an indian restaurant, I was offered fennel candy at the end of the meal. It was amazing!
I eat that stuff on its own merit.
In my experience the quantity or intensity of the flavor is the big difference here. Black licorice is strong, and even one black jelly bean seems to me to contain a lot more of that flavor than even a big pinch of fennel seeds.
This also means it's harder to get used to the flavor, so instead of it growing on you as a kid, you're immediately confronted by this overpowering licorice flavor and you learn that it's disgusting. I've only recently learned that I love the taste in small to moderate quantities.
I always have to fight the urge to over indulge in the fennel candies on my way out of the Indian restaurant.
I hate the taste of black licorice so much that it makes me avoid the weaker versions , too :D
It's interesting how enjoying the taste of licorice seems the be at least partially a cultural thing and not just a matter of personal preference. Most Americans seem to hate licorice, but I'm Dutch and most people here including myself like it. I heard it's popular in Scandinavian countries as well.
It may be genetic. I did a quick search and there seems to be some agreement on that, but nothing popped out as anybody doing a real study on it.
The dislike of cilantro/coriander is genetically linked.
It is odd because we do have it- as Adam mentioned in candies. Maybe because children generally dislike it, and we don't acquire the taste again as adults? I know Europeans generally hate root beer- but I don't think it's exactly the same parallel since it's not readily available outside north America.
Could be Americans are exposed to fruit candy rather than floral/herbal flavorings.
It's very popular in the nordic countries, but still divisive.
i think the reason people hate it is they are only introduced to it through licorice candy, which is very different and less sweet than other candies, so when people first try it (usually as kids), they just disregard it as "that bad candy".
This channel is really precious!
I'm fascinated....I love liqourice and you've explained this complex relationship so well...
Thank you so much for explaining why alcoholic beverages with anise flavour get cloudy. You have just answered a question I've had for over 15 years🙏
Pro tip: Google exists. "why alcoholic beverages with anise flavour get cloudy" 1st hit explains it :D
@@wernerlindorfer3693 don't know about the OP, but most of the times when I've wondered about it I didn't have easy access to the Internet, and never remembered to search it later when I did.
Although not necesarily visible (because the amount of oiks is far less), the same principe is why adding a few drops of cold water to a whisk(e)y can boost the flavour; the fragrant oils come out of suspension and float to the top, boostinf the aroma and thereby flavour (this is essentially what also happened to the absinthe before Adam stirred the top layer into the rest)
@@charlespentrose7834 Dont you guys have phones?
Some fun facts:
The Chinese funny enough were able to distinguish between the different families, as star anise is used primarily in cooking whereas liquorice root is regarded as medicine.
I've always preferred the taste of liquorice over anise, and turns out part of that is because specifically liquorice root contains glycyrrhizin/glycyrrhizic acid, which is 30-50 times sweeter than sugar.
It also reduces blood potassium levels, which is how death by liquorice poisoning cases happen.
love all of these, and I'll add thai basil to the mix, as an interesting option if you want something aniseedy but also slightly basily
Anise and all anethole foods are special. From deserts to meat spicy dishes to seasoning rice and any Asian dish. There also is strong medicinal qualities tonifying the stomach and spleen. The flavor is sharp unique and plays well with others.
I have been obese most of my life and when I started getting into better shape and cutting back on sugar I noticed that I started to appreciate more bitter flavors like beer and then one day I tried some black licorice which I used to hate and thought it was fantastic I've gone so far as to have Scandinavian salted licorice and it's great so tastes can change and can even be affected by your diet.
You have been obese most of your life and you started getting into better shape and cutting back on sugar, you noticeed that you started to appreciate more bitter flavours like beer and one day you tried some black licorice, which you used to have, and now thought it was fantastic, you've gone as far as to have Scandinavian salted licorce and it was great for you, so tastes can change and even be affected by diet.
@@knivesnico8775 So true
Try some laurel licorice, it will make you lose weight fast. Very fast. Eat enough of the stuff and you'll be able to achieve liftoff in your bathroom ;-)
I had hypnotherapy recently to stop my sugar addiction and I’ve definitely noticed changes in my tastes! I already liked bitter flavours but now I love coffee without milk and sparkling water.
@@knivesnico8775 Can't argue with this
Absolutely love licorice. Me finding someone else who also does feels like finding someone that knows the same obscure underground bands that you do lol
My husband and I both love it. What are the odds?!😊
I made licorice "cookies" with anise extract. Do not recommend mostly because the cookies were supposed to be a cake.
Anyways? You like the band Moodring?
Come visit Scandinavia and you will find your people
Always loved licorice. As a kid on Easter the black jelly beans were my favorite. My mother. God rest her soul. Made anise cookies every Christmas with white frosting and green and red sprinkles in different Christmassy shapes. One recipe would make 200 cookies. It took her all day. But everybody couldn't wait till they were done. Though not everybody likes licorice or anise. Back in the 60s 70s you could only get the real anise oil at a pharmacy. You had to go to the counter and ask for it. It wasn't sitting out in the open and it only took a couple of drops for 200 cookies. It came in super small little glass bottles. The size of Nitro pill jars. I miss them cookies. They WERE my Mother.
I have always liked licorice, obviously some others must love it since there are liquors like "Anisette". Licorice has some medicinal benefits, it helps with breathing, and lung issues, this is why its in many of those teas formulated for that purpose (Breath easy, Breath Deep etc.).
This is one of my new favorite channels. I love your scientific perspective, and appreciate the heck out of your citations for everything you say! Too often I have taken CZcams video info as fact until finding out it wasn't and realizing my mental model and theories were based off bad facts :(
Growing up in Australia many decades ago, Aniseed Balls and Humbugs were fairly popular lollies ( candies) with kids. Rumour was that if you dropped an aniseed ball in the river while fishing it would attract the fish. I liked them too much to waste one.
From uk aint had aniseed balls for years yum
Never once in my life have I met anyone from my generation to like or have tried those lollies. I feel like it's a millinial baby boomer thing.
Growing up in Scandinavia, my brain will always consistently connect the flavor of anethole to candy. I wish I could enjoy more foods with anise, fennel or celeriac. Unfortunately, I can never really enjoy it because to me it just creates a dissonance that I'm eating savory food that tastes, what I've grown up to know, as candy.
Ooh, thanks for putting into words why I've never enjoyed anything fennel related.
If you are in scandinavia thetre probably also was an ammonia salt mixed to it. I'm nowhere near scandinavia ( my username is from a Jethro Tull song lol) but I recently got addicted with salmiakki anyway.
@@magusperde365 no. We have both liquorice and salmiakki. They are different products.
Ouzo is amazing but it's very dessert like although it's alcohol
@@otto_jk sorry if I'm ignorant lol. But I still love salmiakki a lot. Its crazy because it litteraly makes ammonia fumes emmanate from my stomach but I still love it
My dad and I were just talking about this yesterday! I was thinking of making some black licorice candy for him.
I was obsessed with black licorice ice cream as a kid, a local ice cream shop made it, until I got a scoop that was freezer burnt. It made me incredibly sick. *[Edit: refrozen ice cream can have the same taste and texture as frost burn, so it's more likely it was food poisoning from being spoiled. Considering the only sign was the texture and very slight off taste, and I was able to scarf it down without care, then I became violently ill after having eaten all of it, it absolutely was not psychosomatic].* Couldn't handle black licorice for about 10 years after that, but I eventually began to enjoy the flavor again.
Nice vid
what is “freezer burnt”?
@@thEpRoCoOkiE Freezer burn is when something is put into a freezer and some moisture and flavor get pulled from whatever the food is. When the moisture gets drawn out it typically freezes again and you'll see some ice crystals surrounding the food. Happens over time or if the food isn't properly stored air-tight.
@@thEpRoCoOkiE Freezer burn refers to the process of dehydration that happens if you leave food frozen for a long time. You'll be able to tell if the food is freezer burnt since it will be brown, leathery, or have ice crystals on it.
The flavor is hard to describe, but it is very unpleasant. You can try it yourself by putting something like an apple into your freezer for a few hours then taking it out.
"Freezer burn" shouldn't cause any food sickness though it sure can taste nasty. Any thoughts as to why you got outright sick from that ice cream? Maybe it wasn't stored properly (frozen) and spoiled before re-freezing?
I really respect that you waited to give your opinion on the flavor until the very end of the video, and even then gave it in comedic fashion! The idea that you might have been biased one way or another never even crossed my mind in the first 9:20, which I guess may speak less to your withholding of opinion and more to your ability to deliver unbiased commentary, but either way it's damn impressive and surely made the entire video a more satisfying, informative experience.
Excellent video! Fun and interesting topic delivered in an easy to understand way. I appreciate that you mentioned it's soluble in oil and alcohol, which is helpful to know. This is the first video I've seen from this channel, but I'll continue to tune-in and hope to see more videos like this.
I gotta say, I never knew that I cared this much about the 'why' behind the flavours that I like/dislike until you started these chemistry lessons. Keep doing these; they're awesome!
almost all anisoles (methoxy benzenes) have unpleasant smells. But our perception depends both on taste and smell (if you catch cold, you smell functions are impaired and everything then tastes different). Just like a regular perfume, most common spices have a cocktail of flavoring agents.
3:53
I need to save this for research purposes
I love licorice in every guise you mention. Tarragon and fennel seed are two of my favorite flavorings.
Thank you for this great explanatory video. Since I was a child, I have loved the taste of anise with a passion. Now I understand who these different sources come to yield this flavor.
the clouding of absinthe is called (in non-chemist terms) a "louche"
It's also been argued that one reason absinthe was given a reputation for hallucinations is that copper (I can't remember if it was 1 or 2, I'm a biochemist not an inorganic chemist) oxide was used in extremely cheap "bathtub absinthe" to create the green color. The reason it was banned and the myths spread was actually from the french wine industry, which had been under some really bad crop years and was on the brink of collapse - a brilliant smear campaign was created and the drink became wildly unpopular as a result.
Some dude in Sweden murdering his wife and kids after drinking absinthe surely didn't help... nevermind that he was a raging, abusive, alcoholic that drank 14 bottles of whisky throughout the day.
it was definitely the absinthes fault.
I think it was more a politicum than a medical problem.
The case that lead to the ban of absinthe in most of Europe was a guy in Switzerland who murdered his whole family after drinking it. But he drank also about 4 liters of wine on a normal day so I believe that it was more his mental state than the absinthe.
Eastern Europe continued to sell the classic absinthe to this day and nothing bad happened.
also, bc it was much cheaper than wine [as was prev mentioned wine crop fail + made prices higher] there were MANY ppl making absinthe to cash-in on the popularity and make a fast buck. And like 'rot-gut' whiskey in the old west, or even the drug trade now, the alcohol was 'cut' w/cheap + often dangerous ingredients to make the bottlers a larger profit + the user very drunk quickly. it also often made the drinker sick, hence the name. so, it's no wonder if all types of dubious [even deadly?] ingredients were included in the cheap absinthes that some ppl negatively reacted to these impure ingredients. and def there was a smear campaign against it by wineries, as it had become more popular than wine in France among the common class.
Ive enjoyed homemade Absinthe from the Jura... I can confirm.. it IS a different experience...
Some of people drank their absinthe with laudanum, an opiate. That would definitely enhance one’s experience not necessarily with hallucinations but by bending sensory input. Touch, sight and sound would be warped.
Adam: "You may not like it..."
Me: [Confused Northern-German Noises]
Here in Skandinavia Licorice is dearly beloved. And there is even an enhanced version: Salmiak-Licorice. We simply add the mineral-salt ammonium chloride to make it even MORE tasty!
As a swede I should add: it is NOT for everyone... Gotta take Adam's stance on licorice candy. I do however like anis, fennel and such. Perhaps it is only the salmiak licorice (known as salt licorice or just licorice in Sweden) that I dislike.
I don’t like it but then I don’t believe I’ve ever had the pure stuff - probably just synthetic rubbish. It sounds like powerful medicine with ammonium chloride. I wonder what it does.
I got some to grow though.
Do you know that weird feeling in your stomach when you go down in a roller coaster? I get the same feeling on the back of my tongue when I open a pack of Salmiak Licorice.
I bought some salmiak licorice a while ago and tried to acquire the taste. Unfortunately it didn't work and I didn't want to overdose on glycyrrhizic acid.
We also love the stuff here in the Netherlands, though I associate salmiak more with Germany and Finland (even if salmiak was actually invented in Belgium)
I'm obsessed with the scent of Black Licorice! I even have candles with the scent!
I love the flavour! One of my favorites. I cook with fennel all the time.
9:00 It's because a higher temperature solvent increases the solubility of the solute. This is the same effect as warming up your water to get your sugar to dissolve more readily.
I’m a huge licorice fan, and absinthe is my favorite drink for special occasions. For Little 500, my friends and I didn’t want to spend the week in the basement of a frat house so we bought a bottle of absinthe to try to be classy. To this day, I’ll still order one at my favorite spot in town! Great video as always
This is probably one of my favourite videos, I absolutely love liquorice (I’m Scandinavian) and I’m a total nerd so yeah, this was all very fun to learn
so glad i found this channel!
Fennel grows like a weed, fair warning. My brother grew some in his garden and it spread all over his lawn, smelled like licorice every time he mowed.
It is a proper weed that grows out of cracks in the pavement, in southern Italy!
@@AelwynMr woah :O
5:44 Actually™, the difference between the molecules shown on the screen is not the methoxy group (CH3O-) on the left, nor the double bonds inside the benzene ring (the hexagon) - but the position of the double bond on the "tail" of the molecule. You can write methoxy as H3CO or CH3O, it doesn't matter. The benzene ring has no real double bonds but something between a single bond a double bond (the phenomena is called "resonance").
Ya, I was concerned that both the benzene and methoxy group were represented differently when the only actual change was the position of the alkenyl
An interesting thing about licorice root is that it has another compound with a similar flavor despite being totally unrelated chemically. It's far sweeter than sugar, but eating too much of it can cause heart problems. It's safe to eat in moderation, though.
The chemical is glycyrrhizin (Had to look up it's spelling lol)
I grew Fennel Finocchio (the bulb) before I even knew how to cook with it. Then after much confusion I saw Gina’s “Buon-A-Petitti” video using the leaves not the bulb in a Pasta dish & NOW I’m sold on the Licorice tasting Fennel. Still don’t know what else I can use the bulb but I keep looking cause…. It’s a really cool plant. BTW: Gina is an octogenarian from Southern Italy 🇮🇹 who cooks & bakes the truly authentic Italian way…even if you only have a fireplace for cooking..
I'm weirdly comforted by watching Adam stand in his backyard and take small tentative bites out of random foodstuffs of questionable flavor/origin.
I enjoy this food science angle you're using more and more in your videos. Cooking is chemistry.
I grow bronze fennel. As the plant grows I trim the lower sprays off before they separate from the stem and yellow. I strip the leaves off and dry them. Whenever I'm grinding other herbs to put into stews sauces or gravies, I always throw a handful of the dried fennel into the mix. It just seems to bring a freshness into the flavour . There is no licorice aftertaste at all. I love it.
I LOVE black licorice type stuff! Sambuca is one of my favorite liqueurs.
Black licorice is the height of confectionery perfection and you can't convince me otherwise.
Takes _All Sorts™._
Anethole most definitely is NOT a terpenoid, even tho it has 10 carbon atoms. It is in the class of phenylpropanoids, just as chavicol, estragol eugenol and many other aromatics.
@@HavokTheorem I had a course on metabolic engineering. One of the exercises was identifying whether a secondary metabolite was a terpenoid (derived from geranyl pyrophosphate), a polyketide or a phenylpropanoid. I suggest you look into phenylpropanoids a bit more in you're interested. Terpenoids sensu strictu are derived from a common metabolic precursor, namely geranyl pyrophosphate, hence they have a number of carbon atoms which a multiple of 5. Phenylpropanoids are derived from the amino acid tyrosine. Phenylpropanoids have a common structure as well, namely a benzene ring with a three carbon alkyl chain. The phenyl ring can have a number of modifications, but usually they have either hydroxy or methoxy substitutions. Sensu strictu phenylpropanoids are derivatives from lignin biosynthesis in plants.
I absolutely love this channel. So much fun. I know i comment this every video but i feel like its worth repeating
Your food facts presented are stunning, WOW!
Fennel has been introduced all over the states, you'll find it growing wild in lots of places. If you like the taste of fennel you should take the whole plant, you're doing the native plants a favor!
Fennel is one of the host plants for the caterpiller of the Black Swallowtail butterfly.
I absolutely love the taste of all of these, I have absinthe, aniseeds, and licorice, and I’ve searched up why they taste similar before to no avail. Thank you for this video - more than normal - it’s answering a question I’ve had for years. I passed up on a gastro research project this summer to earn more money for next semesters and but I wish I could because food chem is fascinating.
Side note, I can’t remember if you’ve done a video on it, but allyls are the root, stem, and leaves of pretty much all organic flavours we use in food, it’s the double lines in the estragole. ThatChemist did a short video on them so if you fancy a more culinary take I’m sure it’s make for a great video and entertaining rabbit hole lol
What a great video! Love the breakdown. As you were discussing the plants in the beginning I started to think of why I hated liquors like ouzo, Sambuca, anisette and the like, but sure enough you got to it! Thank you!
Grew up with licorice and love it.
For future reference, that notch in the side of the Absinthe spoon is actually there to lay on the rim of the glass to help balance it properly and keep it in place.
I'd never heard "ouzo" effect with regard to this (although it certainly makes sense). The term I've always known is "louche"
"actually"
The chemistry term is ouzo effect. It was coined in 2003 by S. Vitale
and J. Katz to refer to the spontaneous superstable microemulsions formed when a liquid insoluble in water is dissolved in a liquid that is water soluble, which is then added to water.I guess they liked ouzo better than absinthe.
The effect was well known, of course, before they named it. But they studied it in depth, and determined how the drop size varies based on temperature and the solubility of the carrier liquid in water.
@@honourabledoctoredwinmoria3126 the effect is much better visible with ouzo. There it goes from a fully clear liquid to a milk-like white liquid.
@@honourabledoctoredwinmoria3126 Thanks for the clarification, I was definitely curious where that came from.
Yeah, I think the absinthe crowd calls it a louche. That's always been what I've heard.
As a superfan of liquorice, salt liquorice, aniseed and absinthe, I have to confess I knew a lot of this already. What I didn't know, though, is that Americans pronounce it "ANN-iss"! That's new to me. I'm not sure it's correct to call it an Anglicisation, as here in England we say it the french way "uh-NEESE". Maybe an Americanization? I find it so fascinating that UK and US English always seem to differ on the pronunciation of words with French origins - and that it seems to be a random coin-flip which one of us chooses the original French! 🤣
They call it the Linux Effect: the ones pronounce it ANN-iss, the others uh-NEESE, and there are probably some peopla who pronunce it uh-NICE. Now matter how you call it, as long as you use it xD
@@FreebirthOne just to be annoying im sure someone will hilariously mispronounce it and call it Hey-neice
@@ste887 Uuuh!. For Linux that would be LEE-NOX
I love liquorice. On my recent trip to Iceland I stocked up on their sweets. The chocolate/liquorice combo is made in heaven.
That was a great segway to the ad. Bonus points.
I was genuinely kinda surprised to hear you describe licourice flavor as strong. I've always thought of licourice as the milder, softer version of salmiakki. Though I suppose people outside of Finland and the Nordic countries in general would have few experiences with salmiakki :D
Lakupiippu!
Salmiakki (NH4Cl) is the best!
I first had salmiakki at 18, I'm from the US. It's really good but I love the stronger licorice flavor on it's own too, apart from the ammonia flavoring
it's just licorice with salmiac. using your language's word for "salty licorice" doesn't make it a different compound altogether. In the US, they use salmiac for "toffy," a sticky chewy candy that can be anise flavored, but also nearly any other flavor. the "salted" version here is popular among, well, old people who probably came from where you do! :)
It's the same compound, just different dosage/quality. Your average candy bought at supermarket will be more or less mild. Then you have people chewing on the roots, which is... special, to say the least. Then you have the diehards that will buy those rolled candies made by artisans, which have a really strong taste. Same goes with alcohols. Or aromatics in cooking. Various sources and qualities will give different results.
The dominant ingredient in Finland's version of salty liquorice salmiakki is sal ammoniac, which has a distinct taste from other liquorice. Rather the main ingredient is salmiak salt, or sal ammoniac and ammonium chloride. Anethol and anise oils can be used in making salmiakki, but there is a reason salmiakki is called salmiakki...cause you can't have it without salmiak salt.
As for the taste, I used to be repulsed as a kid when relatives would bring the stuff back from Finland. However, after moving to Finland I decided my best bet for integrating would be to learn to love the flavor. At first it was difficult, Finns will sneak salmiakki into almost anything. My cousin had a salmiakki wedding cake. And for me it became an acquired taste, but the best gateway was salmiakki Koskenkorva vodka, which balanced out the flavor considerably. So much so that I enjoy even the strongest salmiakki and will occasionally, voluntarily choose the icecream that looks like asphalt.
I love that Anise taste in all forms. I always have.
Grew up eating fennel as a treat and love black licorice as an adult. Star anise bomb af too
My Nordic German heritage definitely loves that strong yet smoother licorice flavor, especially with salmiak salt.
Salmiak Licorice is awesome!!! But with this being said, it's not everyone's cup of tea. A Sámi friend of mine introduced me to it and it's now a tradition to have some at every hockey game.
adam is looking beefier than the thick burgers from last month god DAMN
I think growing up with pizzeles somehow morphed my tastebuds cause I always felt like I would hate the licorice taste, considering I’m a super picky eater, but I’ve always loved it. Itd be cool if you did a video about how culture and growing up with a flavor can affect someone’s tastebuds!
First time I tasted fennel seeds was in an Indian restaurant as a kid. (They usually have a bowl of fennel seeds instead of mints at Indian restaurants)
I liked the flavor ever since, though it is not a part of my culture's foods. Like at all. When I moved to a country where licorice is universally popular, I was surprised! Maybe it's cultural.
I was thinking the same thing you said in the beginning. I like fennel but I hate licorice. It's so interesting how taste works and just the chemistry behind everything.
i remember drinking ouzo with a friend when we were teenagers, we'd pour it over ice and it got very cloudy and then actual small dark flakes would form in it as well. my friend took a big swig of it and then vomited all over my computer, floor, and chair, and then pretended to be passed out so i'd have to clean up the mess instead of him.
That one took a turn.
5:36 Note that the relevant difference is just the placement of the double bond on the right. The other differences drawn here (the way the ring is drawn and CH₃O- vs H₃CO-) are just cosmetic differences without any semantic value, i.e. just a distraction.
(I've always hated benzene-rings drawn with alternating single and double bonds, implying a difference between these bonds that does not exist. The better way to draw them is as a hexagon with a circle inside, which accurately reflects the symmetry of the ring and the sharing of electrons around the entire ring instead of being localized to bonds between neighbours.)
To be perfectly honest, the average person really doesn't need to care that all the bonds in a benzene ring are in resonance. Chemical structures are just pretty pictures to them, that's all they're being used for in this video.
@@tissuepaper9962 I never said they need to care about that, the second part of my comment was just an aesthetic opinion, in parentheses so it's clear it's just a side-remark. The relevant bit was that if you're going to show how similar two molecules are, _especially_ to non-chemists, you don't want to have non-semantic differences in their drawings.
@@MatthijsvanDuin there's no educational content in a chemical structure alone, they're just being used as pretty pictures in this context, like I said. If we were on the E&F channel, or Nurdrage or something, I wouldn't take an issue with your comment but in a cooking video nobody is taking a careful look at the structures except for people, like yourself, that already know which visual differences actually correspond to chemical differences. The people who don't understand that all the bonds in a benzene ring are the same length and strength also won't really understand what the difference between the two structures is, even if you standardize the order of CH_3O and simplify the benzene rings.
I don't mean to nag, although I realize that's likely how it feels to you. Sorry. Obviously I agree that it would be great attention to detail if the structures were nicely standardized and simplified, I just think it's a non-issue in this non-rigorous context.
@@tissuepaper9962 I'd fully agree it's not particularly important, which is why I'm a bit puzzled why _you're_ spending this time on it and as a result make me also have to spend more time on a topic that was arguably not even worth the initial comment.
@@MatthijsvanDuin because the original comment makes the perfect the enemy of the good, and I have a bad habit of allowing myself to impulsively attack that kind of stuff.
I am really excited about organic chemistry and fragrances. Love this
Benzaldehyde has a nice fragance
love all of these
5:28 Tarragon is not just a part of Asteraceae (aka the Daisy family) it is also in the same genus as grand wormwood (Artemisia). Which means tarragon is also a type of wormwood. Some absinthe recipes include tarragon on top of the standard fennel and grand wormwood, I know that St. George's absinthe does this.
The Nordics love licorice flavor, especially salty licorice. 🇫🇮🇸🇪🇳🇴🇩🇰🇳🇱
Swedish people love it as much as Norway hates us
Don’t forget the Netherlands! It’s my favorite kind of candy! And we have a huge variety 😋
I love these flavors!
I enjoy black licorice a lot. Thanks for this.
Licorice is that one candy that kids will give you the look as if you just praised Satan when you give it out for Halloween.
7:30 This is some partition coefficient kind of thing. The anethole is more soluble in alcohol than water, so you get one phase of cloudy water and a separate phase of oily anethole.
Love this flavour!
I actually love it!
@2:28 Fennel Tea (with Anise and Caraway) is still used a lot here in Germany for stomach and digestive issues and a lot of people like me like the flavor.
I think most Germans love licorice at least i do and most people i know too but if you want licorice fanatics you have to ask the Dutch people in the Netherlands. I think licorice candy originated from there. Not sure what kind of licorice you have access to in America but we have sweet licorice and salty licorice here some has added in salammoniac in it which is also a nice flavor that adds to the licorice flavor.
American here. The type we have here is probably what you would call sweet licorice. I have heard of salty licorice, but it is not available here that I am aware of.
@@veraxis9961 I prefer salty licorice by far. The sweet one is marketed at children here and the salty more intense one has "for adults" on it most of the time. I once bought some pure licorice root extract and used it when i had digestive issues to soften my stool. It does not taste good but in the past century it was used as medicine if i remember correctly.
@@veraxis9961 You can probably find it at an IKEA-store.
The American company Harney and Sons sells a ginger and liquorice herbal tea that is just one of my favorite hot beverages period.
Dutch person here. It's true what the German says. You can walk into any supermarket and find a wide range of different types of licorice here (or as we call it: drop). I'm not a fanatic when it comes to drop, but when I eat it I like mine double salted (they are a bit harder to get nowadays probably because of the high salt content being unhealthy).
I would have learnt to enjoy chemistry class if I had Adam Ragusea back in the days.
I love it. I love licorice, anise, fennel, all of it.
If you haven't given it a try, pickling the fennel stalks gives them a nice texture and the acidity balances the anethol flavour!
Tried making a simple punch around Christmas last year - basically rum, lots of water, sugar, and some lemon and lime juice. I also added a star anise pod when heating the required water. I thought the licorice flavor worked well with the rum and citrus!
I love all of these anethole flavors, savory and sweet. This was a very interesting video.
In my family we have a cookie recipe from my Hungarian grandparents flavored with lemon and anise seeds. Whenever I make them to share I always start sharing a very small batch as people tend to love them or hate them. They’re labor intensive so I don’t want any going to waste!
Interestingly, I’ve noticed (small sample size, so not scientific) that people who don’t like the anise cookies tend to dislike bitter flavors such as hops or coffee, and like their desserts sweeter.
I've always been that nutcase who loves licorice, and really strong varieties of root beer. I use licorice tea as a throat soother all the time during allergy season, and it's great! Love it!
Young Fennel shoots are amazing and totally worth putting in a salad or in a pasta