pastis

Pastis comes from Provençal (Occitan) pastís, meaning 'mixture' or 'muddled thing,' from the verb pastissar, 'to mix' or 'to muddle.' When France banned absinthe in 1915 — blaming it for madness, moral decay, and the decline of the nation — anise-flavored drink producers scrambled to fill the void. The solution was pastis: an anise spirit without wormwood (absinthe's controversial ingredient). It was a substitute that became a tradition.

Paul Ricard, a 23-year-old from Marseille, launched his pastis brand in 1932. He marketed it aggressively, plastering Marseille with advertisements and distributing it to cafés throughout Provence. Henri-Louis Pernod had already launched Pernod anise liqueur in 1920. The two brands — Ricard and Pernod — competed fiercely until they merged in 1975 to form Pernod Ricard, now the world's second-largest spirits company.

Pastis is inseparable from Provençal culture. The ritual is specific: pour a measure of golden pastis into a glass, then add five parts cold water. The liquid turns cloudy white — the louche effect, caused by anethole (the anise compound) precipitating out of solution. This cloudiness is the drink's visual signature. It happens in glasses across every café terrace in southern France every afternoon.

France consumes about 130 million liters of pastis annually — more than two liters per person. It outsells every other spirit in the country. The drink that was invented as a legal workaround for a prohibition has become more popular than the drink it replaced. Absinthe was legalized again in 2011. It barely made a dent in pastis sales. The substitute won.