# Does Sambuca Go "Bad"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075 "2008-09-18T00:41:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/1 "2008-09-18T00:41:40Z")
I bought some Sambuca about a year ago. I am the most moderate of drinkers–about 4 glasses of some kind of alcohol a year–but sambuca has always had a burn or a bite to it upon first sip. I am drinking some now (on the rocks, as is my preference) and nothing–no burn, no bit, hardly no taste. Does sambuca lose its flavor over time? (It doesn’t make sense to me, but why else does it taste so funny?) Any ideas? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/2 "2008-09-18T00:44:29Z")
Was it tightly capped? Alcohol can evaporate quite quickly in a warm environment. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/3 "2008-09-18T01:01:54Z")
Yes, it was. It does have some flavor, but not that eye wincing bite I know of old. [sub]I think I was stupid and put too much ice in the drink and since I didn’t start drinking it right away, I now think that it is just dilute sambuca.[/sub] I will slink away now… ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/4 "2008-09-18T01:54:01Z")
Next time try it straight up with 3 coffee beans floating on top. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/5 "2008-09-18T02:09:42Z")
I did forget the coffee beans this time. But I can’t drink any liquor straight up. Yes, I’m a wimp. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Qwisp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qwisp/32/397_2.png) [@Qwisp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwisp)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/6 "2008-09-18T02:27:58Z")
I was going to ask if you had teenagers in the house. When my friends and I first started drinking we would water down our parents alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/7 "2008-09-18T03:10:42Z")
When does samubca get good? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Quint](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/76d3ee/32.png) [@Quint](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quint)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/8 "2008-09-18T05:15:08Z")
> [@Cluricaun](#): > > When does samubca get good? 😃 In the same vein, “Does Sambuca go “bad”?” No. It _is_ bad. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/9 "2008-09-18T13:46:53Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Next time try it straight up with 3 coffee beans floating on top. 🙂 My mom insists on 7 coffee beans, because of the 7 hills of Rome or something. Anyways, put the beans, and set it on fire for a short while, does wonders to the coffee flavor (don’t let it burn all the way, or you won’t have any alcohol left) ---
**Author:** ![First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@First\_Amongst\_Daves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/First_Amongst_Daves)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/10 "2008-09-18T14:10:48Z")
I say set fire to it, suck it up quickly through a straw and as you get to the end have someone pour cold Bailey’s Irish Cream in the glass. Huzzah! I’ve never actually had Sambuca with ice in it before: usually people have it as a shot or as a heavy duty cocktail mixer. Dilution never occured to me. ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/11 "2008-09-18T14:17:26Z")
Doesn’t Sambuca go opaque (and unpretty) with water? ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/12 "2008-09-18T14:39:09Z")
> [@Quint](#): > > In the same vein, “Does Sambuca go “bad”?” No. It _is_ bad. In the words of John Pinette, “It didn’t go bad, it never went good!” ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-sambuca-go-bad/464075/13 "2008-09-18T15:17:32Z")
\*\*Does Sambuca Go “Bad”? \*\* Yes, When he breaks up with Heather Locklear and then hooks up wit that bimbo Denise Rich… (wait…what?)