How to Make Coffee Sambuca

Coffee sambuca is probably one of the easiest Italian coffee drinks to make. The strong anise flavor of sambuca pairs beautifully with the earthy notes of the coffee, and it's a delicious beverage to sip slowly after a hearty meal. Although it's very popular in southern Italy, the eastern region of Le Marche is where you'd find this drink most often. Coffee sambuca is also known in Italian as ghiaccio e mosche, which translates to "ice and flies"—where the "flies" obviously refer to the floating coffee beans. To make coffee sambuca, all you need to do is float three coffee beans—never an even number of beans as it is considered bad luck—in one to two ounces of sambuca and sip it slowly as an aperitif or digestif. The three coffee beans symbolize health, happiness, and prosperity. To complement the anise notes in the sambuca, the beans can be chewed on.

The combination of coffee and liquor is very common in many Mediterranean and Latin traditions, as alcoholic beverages like ouzo, brandy, Kahlúa, or Tía María are added to espresso coffees to enjoy as a post-meal or midafternoon pause. The difference is that in coffee sambuca, coffee is a light flavoring to the otherwise generous shot of sambuca. But in traditional caffé corretti, as they are known in Italy, a splash of brandy, grappa, or sambuca is added to an espresso or double espresso. In either case, coffee and liqueur is a combination you'll likely enjoy.

Some drinkers prefer to light the beverage on fire, known as flaming coffee sambuca, because it lightly toasts the beans. If you do choose to flame this drink, take caution as a fire fueled by alcohol can burn tablecloths, napkins, hair, and clothing.