Oil of Anise
should be colorless or faintly yellow; a dark yellow color indicates old and inferior quality. The characteristics of this oil are the odor, its aromatic sweet taste, and especially the property of solidifying at a comparatively high temperature, 10-15° C. (50-59° F.), which is due to the separation of a stearopten, anethol. Oil of anise is frequently adulterated with or replaced by oil of star-anise. The easy solidification of the oil of anise is not always proof of its good quality, for the oil from anise chaff, which congeals at a still higher temperature, is sometimes mixed with it, and this has a less fine odor than that distilled from the seed. One part by weight of oil of anise is soluble in an equal weight of alcohol of 94%.