A couple of months ago,  I was bumming around the internet and found this list of Haribo gummies not typically found in the US. Because of my love for spiciness and sweetness, Haribo Hot Sticks,  raspberry-jalapeno,  habanero-orange, and lemon-ginger gummies, caught my eye. The only problem – all these flavors are combined with licorice. While I detest eating licorice, I actually love the weight and dimension an anise flavor imparts to a cocktail. When The Straight Up chose Anise for Mixology Monday I decided to skip paying shipping and handling fees and imagine Haribo’s Hot Sticks as a cocktail. I added smoked cinnamon to complement the ginger and anise notes, while also being a quite literal stand-in for a “hot stick.”

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