Anisette's history is laced with a surprising figure: a 16th-century botanist with a passion for digestive relief. Valerius Cordus, a German botanist and physician, wasn't just interested in classifying plants. He was obsessed with their medicinal properties.

Anise, with its licorice-like flavor, had long been used in the Middle East and around the Mediterranean. But Cordus, in the 1500s, was one of the first to figure out how to extract the key essence – anethole – that gave anise its distinctive taste and digestive benefits.

This wasn't just some academic exercise. Cordus, it seems, had a bit of a stomach ache himself.  His anise extract, diluted in alcohol, became a popular digestive aid among his patients and colleagues.  Word spread, and soon, this medicinal concoction was being enjoyed not just for its stomach-soothing properties, but for its pleasant licorice flavor.

Anisette wasn't just born in a lab, though.  It tapped into a long tradition of anise-flavored spirits around the world.  From the anise-infused raki of Turkey to the fennel-based ouzo of Greece, anise liqueurs had been around for centuries.  But Cordus' work helped refine and popularize the flavor, laying the groundwork for the modern anisette we know today.

So, the next time you sip on an anisette, remember – you're not just enjoying a sweet liqueur, you're experiencing the legacy of a botanist with a troubled gut!