Elixir of life, bartender’s handshake, digestif and vital cocktail-ingredient: of all the jewels in the treasure chest of a well-stocked bar, few shine as bright as the emerald Chartreuse. Now, 400 years after its first formulations, the complex liqueur is probably more popular than ever before. How did a monk’s elixir become an international icon?
Read along as we trace the history of the world's most famous liqueur.
Story by: Niklas, Juul's Engros
niklasm@juulsengros.dk
The only liquor so good they named a color after it
In Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 action movie, Death Proof, one scene features Warren the Bartender bringing a round of shots to a table of guests. In this role, Tarantino has naturally cast himself. The shots are quickly downed followed by wild hollering and slamming glasses. It’s the kind of scene where you wonder if they did a few extra takes, just for fun. Tarantino then speaks the now legendary line: “Chartreuse: the only liquor so good they named a color after it”. Afterwards, he immediately asks “Who’s up for dos Chartreuse?” suggesting his knowledge of the liqueur is not so intimate, dos being Spanish rather than French. Or perhaps they are drinking the rarefied drops of the Tarragona-era?
It seems fitting to include an elixir of long life in a movie called Death Proof, but this is just one of a number of prolific pop-cultural appearances: it’s also imbibed in The Great Gatsby as well as in works by Alfred Hitchcock and Hunter S. Thompson (which booze has he not mentioned?) and serenaded in the music of Frank Zappa, ZZ Top and Tom Waits - evidence of a longstanding cult-following that started with a mysterious manuscript more than 400 years ago.
The only liquor so good they named a color after it
In Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 action movie, Death Proof, one scene features Warren the Bartender bringing a round of shots to a table of guests. In this role, Tarantino has naturally cast himself. The shots are quickly downed followed by wild hollering and slamming glasses. It’s the kind of scene where you wonder if they did a few extra takes, just for fun. Tarantino then speaks the now legendary line: “Chartreuse: the only liquor so good they named a color after it”. Afterwards, he immediately asks “Who’s up for dos Chartreuse?” suggesting his knowledge of the liqueur is not so intimate, dos being Spanish rather than French. Or perhaps they are drinking the rarefied drops of the Tarragona-era?
It seems fitting to include an elixir of long life in a movie called Death Proof, but this is just one of a number of prolific pop-cultural appearances: it’s also imbibed in The Great Gatsby as well as in works by Alfred Hitchcock and Hunter S. Thompson (which booze has he not mentioned?) and serenaded in the music of Frank Zappa, ZZ Top and Tom Waits - evidence of a longstanding cult-following that started with a mysterious manuscript more than 400 years ago.
The recipe for a long life
Today, Chartreuse is made by the monks of the Carthusian Order in Aiguenoire north of Grenoble, but the journey here has had its twists and turns.
The order originally made their home in the Chartreuse Massif in 1084. These desolate mountains were a perfect place for solitude and prayer: the cornerstones of monastic life. They were only seven men at first, but the order grew and in 1257 they founded another monastery near Paris.
In 1605, a French diplomat by the name of François Annibal d'Estrées gave the Carthusian monks of Paris a gift: a strange manuscript with a list of 130 ingredients for an elixir of long life. How he had obtained this peculiar document is not widely known, but he wisely entrusted it to the monks who were known to be experts in medicinal plants.
A secret known to only two men
The monks are said to have studied the manuscript and researched for more than 150 years, before finally fixing the recipe for the Elixir Vegetal in 1764. The iconic “green” and “yellow” were introduced much later in 1840. This was also the year when the liqueurs became the monks’ main source of income.
The only commonly known element of the original manuscript is that it contains exactly 130 different plants. What they are, and the proportion of each, is a secret known only to two people at any one time. Presently, brother Raphael-Marie and brother Jean-Jacques oversee the production.
A secret known to only two men
The monks are said to have studied the manuscript and researched for more than 150 years, before finally fixing the recipe for the Elixir Vegetal in 1764. The iconic “green” and “yellow” were introduced much later in 1840. This was also the year when the liqueurs became the monks’ main source of income.
The only commonly known element of the original manuscript is that it contains exactly 130 different plants. What they are, and the proportion of each, is a secret known only to two people at any one time. Presently, brother Raphael-Marie and brother Jean-Jacques oversee the production.
Exile to Spain
In 1903, the Carthusian Order was expelled from France and the monks forced to move abroad. Being foresighted (this was not the first clerical expulsion), they had already set up a distillery and they continued making the liqueur in Tarragona. The monks returned to their original distillery in 1930, but production continued in Tarragona until 1989. The liqueurs produced here are today very sought after by connoisseurs and fetch extraordinary prices at auction – as do most older examples of Chartreuse.
Homecoming and modern resurgence
Since the 1990s, there has been a steady rise in the popularity of Chartreuse. The green wave is no doubt helped along by the numerous appearances in popular culture mentioned earlier, but also propelled by a concerted effort by the monks and a general interest in authenticity in food and spirits.
In 2018 the monks set up a new distillery in Aiguenoire, some 20 kilometers from the old production site in Voiron, on land that the order once owned, but which was taken from them during The French Revolution. The monks are back in the mountains! At the time of writing (2024), Chartreuse is more fashionable than ever before.
Getting your hands on the green stuff
In the wake of the liqueur’s increasing popularity, many have found the bottles to be rather elusive, which in turn has spawned nervous speculation on the status of production. Has it decreased? Stopped, even? Or is my neighbor just hoarding bottles like toilet paper in a pandemic? Rumors spread like wildfire, with numerous Youtube-videos popping up on Chartreuse-alternatives and recipes for making it at home, further fanning the flames of FOMO. Those lucky enough to acquire a bottle, might even feel tempted to show it off on Instagram using hashtags like #MonkJuice.
But the answer is that it has neither decreased nor stopped. The monks have simply chosen not to increase production despite the growing demand and despite having just opened a new distillery. The reason is that the monks want to “protect their monastic life and devote their time to solitude and prayer”. In fact, the new distillery does not even come with increased capacity. How many internationally recognized brands would make that decision when faced with overwhelming demand? The brothers make liqueur to live, not the other way around. With increased demand, the supply is spread thinner, and some markets are not receiving the allocations they are used to.
With that said, those claiming this spike in demand is uncharted territory for Chartreuse are wrong. The liqueur is no stranger to sudden popularity. In 1841, the liqueur became the monks’ primary source of income and sales increased tenfold compared to the previous year. And in 1848, when soldiers were stationed nearby in the massif, flasks of the yellow liqueur made rounds in the barracks and word spread even quicker than before. This spawned the first of wave of imitations and prompted the monks to put the now iconic L. Garnier signature on the bottle. Without it, a bottle was not to be considered genuine.
Today, a number of imitations and homages exist, though the original is still supreme.
Getting your hands on the green stuff
In the wake of the liqueur’s increasing popularity, many have found the bottles to be rather elusive, which in turn has spawned nervous speculation on the status of production. Has it decreased? Stopped, even? Or is my neighbor just hoarding bottles like toilet paper in a pandemic? Rumors spread like wildfire, with numerous Youtube-videos popping up on Chartreuse-alternatives and recipes for making it at home, further fanning the flames of FOMO. Those lucky enough to acquire a bottle, might even feel tempted to show it off on Instagram using hashtags like #MonkJuice.
But the answer is that it has neither decreased nor stopped. The monks have simply chosen not to increase production despite the growing demand and despite having just opened a new distillery. The reason is that the monks want to “protect their monastic life and devote their time to solitude and prayer”. In fact, the new distillery does not even come with increased capacity. How many internationally recognized brands would make that decision when faced with overwhelming demand? The brothers make liqueur to live, not the other way around. With increased demand, the supply is spread thinner, and some markets are not receiving the allocations they are used to.
With that said, those claiming this spike in demand is uncharted territory for Chartreuse are wrong. The liqueur is no stranger to sudden popularity. In 1841, the liqueur became the monks’ primary source of income and sales increased tenfold compared to the previous year. And in 1848, when soldiers were stationed nearby in the massif, flasks of the yellow liqueur made rounds in the barracks and word spread even quicker than before. This spawned the first of wave of imitations and prompted the monks to put the now iconic L. Garnier signature on the bottle. Without it, a bottle was not to be considered genuine.
Today, a number of imitations and homages exist, though the original is still supreme.
In the past few years, distribution has shifted to focus on on-trade channels, and there is no doubt that the many cocktails that feature Chartreuse have been a major part of its modern revival. Why not give one of these a shake?
Chartreuse Cocktails
The Last Word keyboard_arrow_down
Perhaps the most famous Chartreuse cocktail, a neoclassic in every sense of the word, combining gin with the sweet complexity of two iconic liqueurs and the lift of fresh lime juice.
• 2 cl gin
• 2 cl Chartreuse Verte
• 2 cl Maraschino liqueur
• 2 cl freshly squeezed lime juice
Glass: Coupe glass, chilled
Garnish: None
Combine all ingredients and shake well over ice. Double strain into your chilled glass.
Swampwater keyboard_arrow_down
At first glance a strange concoction that became popular in the 1980s college America, complete with an alligator mascot proclaiming the drink had “more bang than a [Harvey] Wallbanger”. Swampwater gets its name from the color resulting from the mix of pineapple juice and green Chartreuse, and despite the… strangeness of it all, somehow this combination just… works.
• 4 cl Chartreuse Verte
• 10 cl pineapple juice
• 1,5 freshly squeezed lime juice
Glass: Whatever you want!
Garnish: Lime wheel or pineapple fronds / spear.
Combine all ingredients and shake well over ice. Serve over ice.
Naked and Famous keyboard_arrow_down
Invented by Joaquín Simó at Death & Co. and quickly embraced by cocktail bars all over the world.
• 2 cl mezcal
• 2 cl Chartreuse Jaune
• 2 cl Aperol or similar
• 2 cl freshly squeezed lime juice
Glass: Coupe glass, chilled
Garnish: None
Combine all ingredients and shake well over ice. Double strain into your chilled glass.
Widow’s Kiss keyboard_arrow_down
A name for a cocktail that’s had different formulations over the years. It is perhaps best known in George Kappeler’s version from 1895. Strong stuff, go easy.
• 4 cl apple brandy
• 2 cl Chartreuse Jaune
• 2 cl Benedictine
Glass: Coupe glass, chilled
Garnish: Traditionally none, but a citrus peel might be nice
Combine all ingredients and shake well over ice. Double strain into your chilled glass.
Verte Chaud keyboard_arrow_down
A recipe featured on the back of the Chartreuse bottle – and with good reason. This is, quite simply, hot chocolate with Chartreuse.
• Hot chocolate as per your favorite recipe, preferably not too sweet
• Chartreuse Verte to taste
Glass: Glass mug
Garnish: Whipped cream
Combine and enjoy.
Bijou keyboard_arrow_down
A classic, somewhat old-school drink. This one’s sweet and boozy, so be careful!
• 3 cl gin
• 3 cl Chartreuse Verte
• 3 Sweet vermouth
• 2 dashes orange bitters
Glass: coupe glass, chilled
Garnish: Lemon peel.
Combine all ingredients and stir with ice. Double strain into your chilled glass and express lemon peel over the top.
