Name: Death Star
Total time: 3 min
Cuisine: Cocktail
Ingredients: 30 ml Pisco; 30 ml Strega liqueur; 30 ml Cynar/carciofo amaro; 1 dash Grapefruit bitters

Death Star
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Photographed in an UB 1910 Old Fashioned 10.5oz

Ingredients:
1 oz	BarSol Mosto Verde Italia Pisco
1 oz	Liquore Strega
1 oz	Cynar or other carciofo amaro
1 dash	Bob's Grapefruit Bitters

Read about cocktail measures and measuring

How to make:

Select and pre-chill an Old-fashioned glass.
Prepare garnish of star anise.
STIR all ingredients with ice.
STRAIN into ice-filled glass (preferably over a large cube or chunk of block ice).
Garnish with star anise floated on surface.

Strength & taste guide:

No alcohol

Medium

Boozy

Sweet

Medium

Dry/sour

More cocktails with similar strength and taste profile

Cocktail of the day:

4th May 2025 is Star Wars Day

Review:

This equal-parts stirred cocktail is either a spirit-forward aperitivo or a bittersweet digestif come nightcap. Whatever classification it falls into, it's tasty.

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Nutrition:

One serving of Death Star contains 168 calories

Alcohol content:

1.7 standard drinks
25.79% alc./vol. (25.79° proof)
23.3 grams of pure alcohol

Difford’s Guide remains free-to-use thanks to the support of the brands in green above. Values stated for alcohol and calorie content, and number of drinks an ingredient makes should be considered approximate.

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Showing 10 of 14 comments for Death Star.
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Brent Nowicki

13th December 2024 at 05:56

I read the comments before making a version of this and I used what I had on hand. My drink consisted of Asbach Uralt 3 Year Old(because I saw some were using grappa), Yellow Chartreuse(because I don't have Strega), and Cynar 70(because I like higher abv). My version is sweet on the front and mid, while the bitterness comes in slowly at the end and lingers on the palate. It reminds me of a Boulevardier, but with more herbal notes. I have a Chilean Pisco, on hand and I'll revisit it.

Peter Barth

31st October 2024 at 22:18

surprisingly syrupy mouthfeel and minty taste

Richard Elgar

17th September 2024 at 20:50

I had this to celebrate the release of Should I Stay or Should I Go on September 17 1982 (due to it being my funeral song of choice, and also there is a song Death is a Star on the Combat Rock album). I enjoyed it as written. The star anise really gives it a lot of punch, and I also think it would be interesting with mezcal, or possibly cachaça instead of pisco. Minor point - with three ounces of spirits, I think a 10.5 oz glass might be a bit big!

Brent Nowicki

13th December 2024 at 05:59

With a large cube the 10 oz glass does it's job, I do like the variations with other spirits. I used a German Brandy myself, and I definitely want to revisit it with Novo Fogo Colibri, Chilean Pisco, and a Mezcal.

Ian Fenton

11th May 2024 at 10:47

I feel this could do with extra pisco (or grappa) to bring the sweetness down a notch and give the spirit more of a chance to be felt among the liqueurs.

Can’t help wondering what it would taste like with mezcal, either.

John Hinojos

5th May 2024 at 00:12

Following Nick Hopewell-Smith's suggestion made again with grappa. Very flavorful. I do not keep star anise in the house, so we improvised with a light misting of Absinthe. Wonderful.

Nick Hopewell-Smith

1st March 2024 at 17:11

This is a grown-up drink. Very Bitter-Italian. As both liqueur ingredients are Italian, I tried again with a powerful (non floral!) grappa. It was improved.

Calvin Grant

4th May 2023 at 02:53

I'm noticing subtle minty (Strega) and citrus notes (grapefruit bitters) playfully orbiting the gravitas of the Cynar (70, very rich). Made this time with Barsol Torontel (great floral notes!), Cynar 70 and Fee Brothers grapefruit bitters. And Liquor Strega... I didn't have any star anise so I added a few drops pimento dram. Five Dark Stars!

Jennifer McNabb

5th May 2024 at 08:17

Great tip with the drops of Pimeto Dram it really brough the Dark Stars up a notch as we also did not have any star anise -Thank You

1 reply

Ernst Lindhout

12th February 2023 at 13:29

Used Amaro Calamari instead of Cynar. Great powerful cocktail.

JuiFan Yuan

22nd November 2022 at 16:43

Does anyone know who invited this cocktail? Really want to know the story behind the cocktail!

Simon Difford

13th February 2023 at 08:14

I don't have any notes as to the origin of this recipe other than that I made it for the photo above on 14/Aug/2018 which does help date when I came across it.

Greg Klump

15th May 2022 at 21:30

Did an A/B test: A = to spec, B = altered proportions in line with my favored ones for Negroni i.e : 1.5oz pisco, .75oz Strega .5 oz Cynar. My impressions:
A: Cynar overwhelmingly dominated. Strega got lost.
B: Much better balance.

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