What Spanish anisette liqueur is traditionally consumed during New Orleans Mardi Gras? The answer is Ojen.
Ojen, also written as Aguardiente de Ojén, is a Spanish anise-flavored spirit from the town of Ojén in Andalusia. It became associated with New Orleans through the city’s strong Spanish and Caribbean connections and developed a particular reputation during Carnival season. In New Orleans, it was traditionally served as a drink called an Ojen cocktail, often mixed with water or other ingredients.
The liqueur’s anise flavor places it among a broad family of spirits that includes French pastis, Italian sambuca, Greek ouzo, and absinthe. Those drinks are related by flavor profile, but they are not interchangeable answers to this question. Ojen is the specifically Spanish spirit linked to New Orleans Mardi Gras tradition.
The name can cause confusion because the original Spanish product became difficult to obtain and was eventually discontinued for a period. New Orleans bars and Carnival traditions nevertheless preserved the drink’s cultural association. Today, references to Ojen often point as much to New Orleans’ historic Mardi Gras drinking culture as to the bottle itself.