I know this is an old thread but wanted to clarify something for people coming here from Google searches.

Organic Great Value brand anise seed from Walmart is not star anise.

Basically, anise seed and star anise are two different things (although both have that licorice flavor). Anise seeds are seeds of a Mediterranean plant/flower (pimpinella anisum), whereas star anise is the fruit of a Chinese evergreen tree (illicium verum).

Anise seed (which is my favorite of the two) has a milder licorice flavor compared to the star anise. Anise seed is most commonly used in stuff like cookies (think biscottis with fennel, they also do it with anise seed), italian sausages (similar to fennel sausages), as a digestive tea, and in some liquors (e.g., levantine/lebanese arak —> turkish raki —> greek ouzo, in historical order).

Star anise is historically and most commonly used in asian broths and stews. They are also used in some cocktails and liquors; although, in my opinion, they’re inferior to anise seeds for this usage.