Fennel tea

Fennel tea is a herbal infusion — a tisane — made by steeping the crushed dried seeds of fennel (more precisely the plant's tiny fruits) in hot water. Like other tisanes it is not made from the tea plant Camellia sinensis at all, so it contains no caffeine whatsoever; "tea" here just means a hot-water infusion. The cup is pale straw to gold, light-bodied and naturally a little sweet, with a clean, warm aroma dominated by anise or liquorice — the same sweet, cooling note as star anise and Pernod — over a faint grassy, camphorous edge. Fennel tea is one of the most widely drunk digestive infusions in the world, taken after meals across the Mediterranean, the Middle East, India and Latin America to settle the stomach, ease bloating and freshen the breath, and given in very dilute form to soothe colicky, gassy babies.