From Civitavecchia to via Veneto
Molinari’s family history connects its star-anise liqueur with Rome’s social life.
Molinari recalls Angelo’s experiments in Civitavecchia in 1945, when the perfumer and blender developed Sambuca Extra around star anise. The company describes the recipe as still secret.
Its account of the 1950s and 1960s follows Angelo and his children, Marcello and Mafalda, as they introduce the liqueur to restaurateurs on Rome’s via Veneto. There, sambuca served with a few coffee beans becomes part of the brand’s story of the Dolce Vita years.
