Star Anise

So i'm gonna brew my trois pistoles either tonight or tomorrow night. I want to figure out this star anise spice though. I got like whole stars but the recipe calls for 1/8th tsp... are you supposed to run this stuff through a food processor or something????

Don't know about the star type. I have no idea how strong it is.

I've used 1/8 tsp of the seed in 1 gal of mead that came out really light in the licorice flavor. I mean REALLY light.

I wonder if there is a cooking/spice site where you might find out the differences between them and other spices?

well it calls for 1/8tsp at 15min and another 1/8th at 5min....

FYI, I've found conflicting results...

http://www.tones.com/spiceInsights.html
Miscellaneous Spice Substitutions & Conversions
Anise 1 star anise = 1/2 teaspoon anise or fennel seed


http://memphisbrews.com/newsletters/JanFeb07.pdf
1 whole star anise (or 1/4 tsp ground)


I suppose I just need to grind up a few and measure it out.... either way i'm guessing a little goes a long way!

When I used star anise in my licorice porter, i crushed it, like you would grains.

sirsloop said:

FYI, I've found conflicting results...

http://www.tones.com/spiceInsights.html
Miscellaneous Spice Substitutions & Conversions
Anise 1 star anise = 1/2 teaspoon anise or fennel seed


http://memphisbrews.com/newsletters/JanFeb07.pdf
1 whole star anise (or 1/4 tsp ground)


I suppose I just need to grind up a few and measure it out.... either way i'm guessing a little goes a long way!

Click to expand...

What are the odds of that... you posted a link to my local HB club... My LHBS owner is the club treasurer... I'm not yet a member, i'm not experienced enough to join (my opinion)....

Star Anise and Fennel are really good for licorice flavors... 1/8 tsp doesn't seem like alot so i'm hoping it's for subtle flavor... I have used Star Anise and Fennel in Stir Fry sometimes and used like 3 whole stars (small stars)... If you're boiling it you might want to crack or crush them and boil them then.

yeh... I took the bag over to my vise and smashed it with a hammer... then measured out 1/4tsp and used that.