Hierbas de Mallorca
Photo: Pod junkie · CC BY-SA 3.0

History

Hierbas de Mallorca is a protected island liqueur made by macerating herbs from the garrigue in an aniseed spirit base. Fennel, rosemary, lemon verbena, camomile and mint are the usual backbone, and producers guard the rest of the list. It comes in three registered styles: dolces, seques and mesclades, sweet, dry and mixed. Mallorcan households keep a bottle with the herb stems still floating in it, and it is drunk very cold after a meal or dropped into a coffee.

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Make it at home

Yield Makes 1 litreHands-on 20 minTotal 720 hrDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 700ml aniseed spirit or anisette
  • 300ml water
  • 250g caster sugar
  • 4 sprigs rosemary
  • 2 sprigs fennel fronds
  • 6 lemon verbena leaves
  • 4 camomile flowers
  • 4 mint leaves
  • Pared zest of 1 lemon

Method

  1. Wash and dry the herbs thoroughly. Any water left on them will cloud the finished bottle.
  2. Pack the herbs and lemon zest into a wide sterilised jar and pour the aniseed spirit over.
  3. Seal and leave somewhere dark for 30 days, turning the jar every few days.
  4. Warm the water and sugar together until dissolved, then cool completely.
  5. Strain the spirit through muslin, stir in the syrup to taste and bottle.
  6. Rest the bottle a further week before drinking, and serve it straight from the freezer.

Tip from the editors. Use less sugar syrup for a seques style. The sweet version masks the rosemary almost entirely.

Where to eat hierbas de mallorca

Hierbas de Mallorca in Palma

Featured by TableJourney as a signature dish of Palma. See where to eat Hierbas de Mallorca in Palma or the Palma signature dishes guide.

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