Licorice ~ Aphrodisiacs from A to Z

By Alcibiades (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Licorice, as far as I know, does not enjoy the wide appeal of its brasher cousin, ginger. (I dunno if they're in anyway related; I'm just callin' 'em cousins 'cause they both grow underground. Artistic license, OK?) (Gosh!)

Anyway, I find it a bit bizarre that, when I posted about anise, the similarity between its taste and that of licorice was almost universally disparaged by the chicks who commented. (I, myself, am not a fan.) AND YET, here 'tis, turning up as one of nature's aphrodisiacs.

"WTF?" you may ask.

Here's the thing: it's not the taste but the scent of licorice that turns us on.

No, really.

Y U SO SEX-AY?
Some guy did a study and learned that the scent of licorice, in combination with other specific scents, increased the flow of blood to the genitals of both male and female subjects by, like, a lot. (For dudes, it was a licorice/doughnut combo that got them frisky, and for the babes it was licorice/cucumber.)

Surreal.

Note that there were other scents that turned people on, the most effective among them being cinnamon buns. (Lawdhammercy, I knew there was a reason why I get all flushed whenever I near a Cinnabon. You know, apart from the obvious. Cinnabon, MMMMM!)

RECIPES

• Healing Licorice Root Tea
• Homemade Root Beer
• Licorice and Lime Parfait

Click here to learn more about licorice.

Sources