What is star anise?
The anise tree is a rare species found only in the furthermost reaches Southern China and in North Vietnam. The fruit of the tree, star anise, has been used for its medicinal properties since ancient times, and was also sought after by the famous Venetian merchant, Marco Polo. Ricard’s experts still travel twice a year at harvest time to this faraway region to check that the first distillation of plant produces anise essence of the finest quality.
