From: For anise extract, fill a ½ pint canning jar with whole star anise. (You can find star anise in a Chinese grocery store) Fill with vodka, leave indefinitely. Star anise also stores well in sugar to make anise flavored sugar. (An interesting side note: Star anise are the star shaped seed pods from the fruit of a Chinese evergreen tree which provides a key ingredient used in the production of Tamiflu, an antiviral agent purportedly effective in helping to fight H5N1 bird flu and other influenza).