Hierbas Ibicencas and Ibiza wine: what they are and where to try them

Ibiza Connects · Updated on October 16, 2026 · 10 min read

After a long lunch at a village restaurant, there's a good chance an unlabelled bottle with sprigs of plants inside will appear on the table with a few small glasses. That's hierbas, the island's liqueur, and turning it down without trying it is almost rude. Behind that gesture is a drink with more than a century of history, protected by law, and a wine that has been made here since the Phoenicians, even though hardly anyone abroad has heard of it.

Here's what you need to know about both: what they are, how to drink them, which wineries open to the public and how to get a bottle home without it being confiscated at airport security.

What Hierbas Ibicencas is (and what its label protects)

Hierbas Ibicencas is an anise-based spirit made mainly by extracting the aromas of plants that grow on the island. Its geographical name was recognised on 12 December 1996, one of the first for a spirit in Spain. Today it's a European geographical indication with its own specification, overseen by the Balearic Government's Directorate General for Agri-food Quality: only producers who make it in Ibiza or Formentera and are on its register can use the name "Hierbas Ibicencas".

What the specification says, in numbers:

Which plants go in

The specification lists fifteen local aromatic plants, among them fennel, thyme, rosemary, lemon verbena, lavender, rue, camomile, juniper with its berries, oregano, mint, spearmint, sage, and lemon and orange leaves and peel. The underlying flavour comes from star anise or green anise seeds. Each producer decides how many plants to use and in what proportion; the wild thyme that grows all over the island, rich in essential oils, is one of the ingredients that gives the most character.

Sweet, never dry (and the homemade ones)

Unlike Mallorca's hierbas, which are officially split into dry, sweet and mixed, Ibiza's are always sweet: the specification defines them as sugar-sweetened with a sweet taste, and only sets a maximum. Within that, each producer decides how sweet.

The ones you're offered in a village restaurant are often homemade hierbas, made on the farm by steeping sprigs in anise spirit. They're delicious and part of the tradition, but legally they aren't certified "Hierbas Ibicencas". If you're buying to take home, the name "Hierbas Ibicencas" on the label and the control code are your guarantee of origin.

A little history

Before it was bottled commercially, every household made its own hierbas as a digestive remedy. The best-known commercial story is that of the Marí Mayans family: around 1880, Juan Marí Mayans from Formentera, who had learnt the trade at a Barcelona distillery, began making it on his island and later moved to Ibiza, where the family still distils. It's the most famous brand but not the only one with the geographical indication: you'll see several in the shops.

How to drink hierbas: as a shot, over ice and in cocktails

• Cold, in a small glass, at the end of a meal. The classic way. Many households keep it in the fridge or serve it with an ice cube.
• Over ice in a tumbler, as a long digestif on a summer terrace.
• In cocktails. Some of the island's cocktail bars use it as an anise base instead of pastis or sambuca.
• In baking. A splash in a flan or in orelletes dough is a home cook's trick.

A tip from someone who lives here: at 24-38% alcohol with that much sugar, it goes down very easily. If you're driving afterwards, a polite "not now, thanks" is fine and nobody will be offended. Drink-driving limits and fines are in Ibiza rules for tourists.

Ibiza wine: Vi de la Terra Eivissa

Wine has been made in Ibiza since the Phoenicians founded their colony on the bay in the 7th century BC. Its heyday came in the 19th century: with phylloxera destroying French vineyards, France bought Ibizan wine in large quantities (especially around 1862). Later the pest reached the island too, and the vineyards never fully recovered. It was the farmers who kept the tradition alive with their homemade wine, and in the 1990s a small group of wineries began to focus on quality.

The Vi de la Terra Eivissa label

The island's certified wine falls under the protected geographical indication Ibiza / Eivissa, which usually appears on labels as Vi de la Terra Eivissa (Ibiza country wine). It was created in 1996, and its specification states that the whole island is the production area, that yields must be low (no more than 70 litres of wine per 100 kilos of grapes) and that these varieties may be used:

Monastrell is the island's traditional grape, giving full-bodied reds and flavourful rosés; malvasia is the white with the most character, and many wineries champion it as their own. The wines are deep in colour and fairly high in alcohol, with little residual sugar. Production is tiny (four wineries in the indication), so Ibiza wine isn't cheap and nearly all of it is sold on the island.

Vi pagès (country wine)

Outside the label there's vi pagès: homemade red, rough and deeply coloured, made by each family from its own vines. It's the one poured at village fiestas with the doughnuts. Its big day is the Festa des Vi Pagès in Sant Mateu d'Albarca in December, when every household brings out the new wine to taste alongside grilled sobrassada and botifarró. Some wineries are reviving the tradition with reds fermented with frígola (thyme), as used to be done at home.

Ibiza wineries you can visit

There are four, all small, and nearly all require advance booking. These are the details they publish (checked in October 2026):

The Sant Mateu valley in the north is the area with the strongest wine tradition: a tasting pairs well with a tour of Ibiza's prettiest villages or one of the inland hiking trails. If it's raining, a tasting is also one of the best afternoon plans (more ideas in what to do in Ibiza on a rainy day).

A practical warning: nearly all the wineries are out in the countryside, and buses don't stop at the door. Go with someone who isn't drinking or share a car; in the app you can look for car sharing to split the trip.

Other liqueurs and products: frígola, palo, absinthe, café caleta and salt

• Frígola. "Frígola" is Ibizan for thyme, and frígola liqueur is the more herbal, less aniseedy cousin of hierbas. Drink it the same way.
• Palo. A dark, bitter liqueur of cinchona and gentian with caramelised sugar. It's originally from Mallorca (Palo de Mallorca has its own geographical indication), but it's also made and drunk in Ibiza, often with soda water.
• Absinthe. Absinthe is distilled in Ibiza: the Marí Mayans house, for example, has one in its range. It's far stronger than hierbas, so treat it with respect.
• Café caleta. The drink fishermen used to warm up: coffee with brandy, sugar, cinnamon and lemon and orange peel, usually flambéed. Many traditional restaurants will make it if you ask, even if it's not on the menu.
• Ses Salines salt, Oli d'Eivissa olive oil and Mel d'Eivissa honey. Not drinks, but usually sold in the same shops and wineries. More island produce in traditional Ibiza food.

How to pack hierbas or wine in your luggage

Bottles are the most typical Ibiza souvenir and also the one most often left behind at security. These are the rules published by Aena, which still apply until it announces the new scanners that allow larger liquids at Ibiza (if you have a connection, check that airport's rules too):

Tips for getting it home in one piece: wrap the bottle in clothes and put it in a sealed plastic bag in the middle of the suitcase, away from the sides. Many wineries and shops sell cardboard boxes with dividers. And if you're changing planes, remember the sealed airport bag only works if it isn't opened along the way. Coming back to the UK, also check the duty-free allowances for alcohol on the UK government website.

Common mistakes and tips

• Buying "hierbas" without the label and assuming it's the certified kind. Look for the name "Hierbas Ibicencas" and the control code on the label.
• Confusing vi pagès with Vi de la Terra Eivissa. The first is homemade fiesta wine; the second comes from a winery and is regulated.
• Turning up at a winery without booking. Most only open by appointment, and hours are shorter in winter.
• Driving after the free round. Hierbas is sweet and deceptive.
• Expecting island wine to be a bargain. Production is tiny and the price reflects it; if it's very cheap, read the label carefully.
• Forgetting it's served cold. At room temperature, hierbas loses a lot.

Sources and official information

• Govern de les Illes Balears · Agri-food quality, «Hierbas Ibicencas» geographical indication (specification and single document)
• Govern de les Illes Balears · Agri-food quality, PGI Vi de la Terra Eivissa (specification)
• Aena · What is allowed in hand luggage (liquids)
• Bodegas Can Rich · visits
• Ibizkus · tasting room and shop
• Bodegas Can Maymó · wine tourism
• Wikipedia · Vino de la Tierra de Ibiza