Anise has been used since ancient times by Mediterranean civilizations as an ingredient for the preparation of alcoholic beverages. Today the best known are the transgressive absinthe, the distillate favored by the cursed poets of the bohemian era, or the more Provençal Pastis of the Occitan lands. In the ancient Occitan, the term "pastis" indicates a mixture, a pie indeed. It is consumed diluted with water, sometimes with the addition of a drop of mint syrup, barley water or grenadine.