12 Sambuca Cocktails to Try

Despite its rather irreverent name, this sumptuous shot really does look like a nipple! It's a great gag party shot that layers grenadine syrup, sambuca, and Irish cream liqueur for an ultra-sweet and rich flavor. Slippery Nipples are shots that you won’t need to chase with anything. They taste like creamy licorice sticks.

The Manbuca gets its name from the combination of Sambuca and Manhattan. In this case, Manhattan refers to the classic whiskey drink. This recipe adds a dash of sambuca to the classic whiskey, sweet vermouth, and bitters trio. Sweet, bitter, and smoky is a perfect cocktail trifecta that gets a warming licorice kick with the addition of sambuca.

If you’re looking for a refreshing and cheerful shot to spice up your summer soiree, look no further than this Pineapple Shooter. It blends pineapple, lemon juice, and sambuca in a cocktail shaker for a sweet and tangy explosion. A drop of grenadine creates a beautiful color fade from light pink to deep crimson.

A popular sambuca variety is coffee sambuca, made by blending Italian espresso with sambuca for a super-rich coffee and anise liqueur. Caffè Caffè is a complex cold brew coffee cocktail that spikes cold brew with equal parts bourbon, cream, and coffee sambuca. The smoky bourbon and sweet anise add an unparalleled depth of flavor. 

The Cherry Nipper is a simple, two-ingredient cocktail that blends cherry lemonade and sambuca over ice in a lowball glass. It’s easy to make and the perfect refreshing summertime drink. Cherry adds richness to tangy lemonade that gets added sweetness from the sambuca and a characteristic anise-flavored finish.

There’s no better way to impress guests than with a flaming cocktail. It also happens to be a layered cocktail served in a classy martini glass. It starts with a coffee liqueur, followed by orange liqueur and Bailey’s. Sambuca is the final layer that provides a bright blue flame.

Another impressively presented sambuca cocktail, Sambuca Punch is worth the effort involved in its multiple steps. It requires you to first make a pineapple lemonade blend infused with mint to strain over a shot of white sambuca. The piece de resistance is the mashed raspberry topping that makes a blood-red cap.

Coffee sambuca honors the traditional way of enjoying sambuca. It is simply a shot of cold sambuca garnished with a few whole coffee beans. It’s the purest digestif with a rich coffee-flavored upgrade. Enjoy it after a traditional multi-course Italian dinner.

Drink at your own risk! This extravagant and elaborate cocktail has multiple spirits, liqueurs, and flavors. It blends rum and sambuca with coconut cream and pear liqueur. Its pea-green hue comes from matcha green tea powder. The flavor profile is unlike anything you’ll ever taste, with creamy sweetness, rich spice, and earthy matcha. 

It doesn’t have to be New Year to make a resolution. The Resolution Cocktail is a delicious and unique blend of tropical and Mediterranean flavors. It combines nearly equal parts sambuca and guava juice, adding a splash of prosecco for a bubbly and crisp finish. The pungent sweetness of the guava stands up perfectly to the strong anise flavor of sambuca.

Sambuca L’Arancia is a simple blend of sambuca, orange liqueur, and orange juice. It draws inspiration from an annual food fight festival in Italy known as the Battle of the Oranges. It’s sweet, tart, and citrusy with a lovely licorice finish. This cocktail would be a great alternative to a Screwdriver or even a Mimosa.

The ultimate dessert cocktail, this Mocha Sambuca is a sambuca-spiked hot coffee and chocolate with whipped cream on top! We already know that sambuca and espresso are a classic duo, and adding chocolate takes it to a new level of decadence. Plus, the anise flavor in the sambuca softens the bitterness of coffee and chocolate.