The present invention pertains to a pipetting apparatus and method capable of detecting a liquid (9, 9') within an intermediate section (4) of a pipette tube (1) of the pipetting apparatus. The intermediate section (4) is located between an upper section (2) of the pipette tube (1) at which a first electrode (10) is arranged and a lower section (3) at which a second electrode (11) is arranged. The first and second electrodes (10, 11) form a measurement capacitor and are operationally connected to an impedance measurement unit (13), which is adapted to detect whether liquid (9, 9'), such as a portion of a sample liquid (9) or system liquid (9'), is present within the intermediate section (4) based on the measured impedance or change of impedance, e.g. an increase of the capacitance and/or a decrease of the resistance, of the measurement capacitor caused by a presence of the liquid (9, 9') within the intermediate section (4).