Tarragon vs anise
Two clean aniseed flavours from unrelated plants, and the pair that explains why Georgian tarkhun tastes the way it does. One is a leaf and the other a seed, and the leaf is greener.
botanical
What is being compared
Point by point
| Aspect | Tarragon | Anise |
|---|---|---|
| The plant | Artemisia dracunculus, a leaf, and French tarragon is a sterile clone propagated by division. | Pimpinella anisum, an Apiaceae seed, grown around the Mediterranean and in the Middle East. |
| Flavour | Clean aniseed over a green herbal base, sweeter than fennel and softer than star anise. | Purer and more concentrated aniseed, with less green behind it. |
| As a drink | Tarkhun in Georgia and Armenia, both as a herb and as a bright green soft drink. | Brewed across the Mediterranean and the Middle East, and distilled into arak, ouzo and pastis. |
| Drying | One of the herbs most degraded by drying; much of the aroma is lost. | Keeps well whole and fades fast ground. |
| The variety problem | Russian tarragon grows from seed, is far coarser, and has almost none of the anise. | Star anise is an unrelated tree fruit with a similar flavour and is not a substitute by weight. |
The short answer
For a green, herbal anise, tarragon is the one. For a clean concentrated anise, the seed is. Seed-grown tarragon plants are always the Russian sort and will disappoint.
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