Chartreuse liqueur: what it is, how to drink and composition

Briefly about the drink

Chartreuse - an elite French liqueur made from 130 herbs, spices, seeds, roots and flowers.

A variety of natural ingredients create a rich flavor palette. Spicy, sweet, burning and medicinal shades are replaced by a bouquet of deep notes after 2, 3 sips, and herbal flavors play with nuances.

The strength of the drink varies from 40% to 72%, and the recipe is carefully kept secret by the holy fathers of the Cartesian Order.

Interesting facts

The history of Chartreuse liqueur is full of legends and mysteries. An amazing folio fell into the hands of the monks of the Cartesian order near Grenoble in 1605. An unknown alchemist encrypted the recipe for the drink of eternal youth in a manuscript. For 132 long years, the monastery puzzled over the meaning of signs and numbers.

After repeated attempts to solve the mystery, Jerome Mobeca, the monastery's pharmacist, managed to read the mysterious document and created a medicinal elixir according to the recipe. Since then, the drink has been produced as "Elixir Vegetal de la Grande Chartreuse" (Vegetable Elixir of the Grande Chartreuse). The health liqueur of the same brand has been produced as a digestif since 1764.

A lot of troubles and threats, the verdict of the French Ministry of the Interior of Napoleon Bonaparte, expulsion from France and the long, but temporary, residence of monks in Spain (Tarragona) did not break the seal of secrecy of the drink. Since 1989, Chartreuse liqueur has been produced exclusively in Voiron, France.

Types of Chartreuse liqueur

1. Yellow Chartreuse

   The king of liqueurs, a soft, sweet alcohol of forty degrees of strength with saffron, which gives a peculiar color.

2. Green Chartreuse

   The color is due to the high content of chlorophyll, the strength is 55 degrees.

3. Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolonge

   Long-term aging liqueur in oak barrels, produced in 2 versions: yellow - 42 degrees strength, green - 54% alcohol content. The bottles of this Chartreuse have an ancient design and numbering.

4. Elixir Vegetal de la Grande Chartreuse

   Used for medicinal purposes, added to grog, tincture.

5. Chartreuse 900

   Anniversary batch of sweet liqueur, created in 1984 to celebrate the birthday of the monastery of the same name, a green version of the 47-degree strength potion in original numbered bottles.

6. Chartreuse 1605

   Released on the birthday of the first healing drink. The strength is 56 degrees.

How to drink Chartreuse

This liqueur belongs to the group of digestifs. These are dessert spirits that are consumed after a meal.

Chartreuse liqueur can be served both chilled to 10-15°C and at room temperature.

You can set the table for Chartreuse with both glasses and liqueur glasses.

Drink the drink in small sips with ice or neat. It is not necessary to snack on the liqueur, but if it is too strong for you, then put fruit and desserts on the table.

Cocktails with Chartreuse

1. Green ray

   - 25 ml of black Sambuca;
   - 25 ml of green Chartreuse liqueur.

   Pour chilled Sambuca into the stack first, and Chartreuse on top.

2. Chartini

   - 60 ml of gin;
   - 20 ml of green Chartreuse liqueur;
   - 1 olive for garnish;
   - crushed ice.

   In a shaker with ice, shake the liquid ingredients. Strain the resulting cocktail into a glass and put an olive in it.

3. Tasting notes

   - 10 ml of vodka;
   - 10 ml of green Chartreuse liqueur;
   - 10 ml of orange juice;
   - 10 ml of lemon juice;
   - crushed ice.

   Shake all ingredients well in a shaker with ice and strain into a glass.

4. Mona Lisa

   - tonic;
   - 40 ml of orange juice;
   - 20 ml of gin;
   - 20 ml of green Chartreuse liqueur;
   - 20 ml of Campari
   - cubed ice.

   Stir the juice, gin, Chartreuse and Campari in a mixing glass, then pour into a glass with ice and top up with tonic.

5. Jungle

   - 120 ml of pineapple juice;
   - 15 ml of Kashats;
   - 15 ml of green Chartreuse liqueur;
   - a slice of pineapple for garnish;
   - crushed ice.

   Take a collins glass, fill it with ice, pour in Kashatsu, Chartreuse and juice. Garnish with a slice of pineapple.

6. Bishop's

   - 30 ml of yellow Chartreuse liqueur;
   - 15 ml of green Chartreuse liqueur.

   Mix the liqueurs in a mixing glass, pour into a stemmed glass. Drink this cocktail in one gulp.

7. Chartreuse mousse

   - 100 ml of hot coffee;
   - 1 ч.л. of green Chartreuse liqueur;
   - 1 tbsp.л. whipped cream.

   Brew coffee, pour into a cup, then pour in Chartreuse and garnish with whipped cream.

8. Chartreuse tonic

   - 180 ml of tonic;
   - 20 ml of green Chartreuse liqueur;
   - ice cubes.

   Pour Chartreuse into a glass with ice and top up with tonic.

9. Bijou

   - 30 ml of gin;
   - 30 ml of green Chartreuse liqueur;
   - 30 ml of white dessert vermouth;
   - 1 drop of orange bitters;
   - 1 cocktail cherry for garnish;
   - a lemon peel spiral for garnish;
   - crushed ice.

   Muddle all liquid ingredients in a shaker, strain into a glass with ice and a spiral of zest. In the finished cocktail, drop the cherry.

10. Fire dragon

    - 25 ml of light rum;
    - 25 ml of green Chartreuse liqueur.

    Mix rum and liquor in a pile and set fire to it. Drink the cocktail burning through a straw. Another way to drink it is also possible - light the cocktail on fire, blow it out and drink it in one gulp.

The composition of Chartreuse digestif

Since the monopoly on the production of the drink has been secured since 1970 by the monks of the Cartesian Order. The recipe for the liqueur is kept secret and cannot be patented. Of course, no one has yet revealed the secret of the exclusive and original potion, but the Encyclopedic Dictionary edited by Brockhaus and Efron of 1890-1907 has a variant of Chartreuse.

The following ingredients are mentioned in the recipe:

1. Orange peels - 100 g

2. Musk grains - 50 g

3. Orange fruit - 50 g

4. Ceylon cinnamon - 30 g

5. Cardamom - 30 g

6. Horseradish peels - 100 g

7. Morning glory - 150 g

8. Celery seeds - 30 g

9. Angelica seeds - 125 g

10. White ginger - 30 g

11. Black pepper - 10 g

12. Jamaican pepper - 30 g

13. Fresh lemon mint - 250 g

14. Cloves - 30 g

15. Ginger root - 30 g

16. Angelica roots - 30 g

17. Tonka beans - 25 g

18. Nutmeg flower - 30 g

19. Blue St. John's wort - 125 g

20. Nutmegs - 50 g

21. Alpine Chernobyl - 125 g

22. Undiluted wine alcohol - 30 liters

23. Soft spring water - 10 liters

24. Sugar - 40 kg

The method of preparation

1. Herbal ingredients are laid out on a special copper sieve.

2. Place the sieve in a distillation flask.

3. Flask with contents is heated for 8 hours.

4. The alcohol is returned to the flask in a circular pattern after cooling.

5. Then the liquid is filtered together with 200 g of burnt magnesia.

6. Then add sugar, honey.

7. Pour in water to a volume of 100 liters.

It is also worth remembering that the original Chartreuse does not contain artificial ingredients.

Healing properties of the drink of eternal health

Initially, the liquor was supposed to be a cure-all. It really makes you feel better and helps to cure many ailments. Chartreuse is taken for the following ailments:

1. Digestive problems.

2. Loss of strength.

3. Diseases of the biliary tract and liver.

4. Slow metabolism.

5. Frequent viral diseases, colds.

6. Decreased immunity.

7. Migraines and headaches.

Update: 07.09.2017

Category: Liqueurs and Tinctures