Editing Chartreuse (liqueur)

{{Short description|French liqueur brand}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=December 2020}}
{{Infobox beverage
|name         = Chartreuse
|image        = {{multiple image
| total_width = 280px | image_style = border:none | border = infobox | align = center
| image1 = 16-09-17-WikiLovesCocktails-Flaschen-Img0136.jpg| alt1 = | caption1 = A bottle of Green Chartreuse
| image2 = Schnapsglas grüner Chartreuse.jpg| alt2 = | caption2 =  A shot of Green Chartreuse
}}
|type         = [[Liqueur]]
|abv          = 40–69%
|proof        = 80–138° US / 70-120¾° UK
|manufacturer = [[Carthusian]] [[monk]]s
|distributor  =
|origin       = [[France]]
|introduced   = 1764
|discontinued =
|color        = [[Chartreuse (color)|Chartreuse]]
|flavor       = Herbal
|variants     = 
|related      = 
}}

'''Chartreuse''' ({{IPAc-en|US|audio=En-us-chartreuse.ogg|ʃ|ɑr|ˈ|t|r|uː|z|,_|-|ˈ|t|r|uː|s}}, {{IPAc-en|UK|-|ˈ|t|r|ɜː|z}}, {{IPA|fr|ʃaʁtʁøz|lang}}) is a French herbal [[liqueur]] available in green and yellow versions that differ in taste and alcohol content.<ref>Harold J. Grossman and Harriet Lembeck, ''Grossman's Guide to Wines, Beers and Spirits'' (6th edition). [[Charles Scribner's Sons]], New York, 1977, pp.&nbsp;378–9. {{ISBN|0-684-15033-6}}</ref> The liqueur has been made by [[Carthusian]] monks since 1737, reportedly according to instructions set out in a manuscript given to them by [[François Annibal d'Estrées]] in 1605. It was named after the monks' [[Grande Chartreuse]] monastery, located in the [[Chartreuse Mountains]] north of [[Grenoble]]. Today the liqueur is produced in their distillery in nearby Aiguenoire. It is composed of [[distilled beverage|distilled alcohol]] aged with 130 herbs, plants and flowers, and sweetened.

The color [[Chartreuse (color)|chartreuse]] takes its name from the drink.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Tadié |first1=Solène |title=The Story Behind Chartreuse, the Legendary Liqueur of the Carthusians |url=https://www.ncregister.com/blog/chartreuse-liqueur |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=National Catholic Register |date=20 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kelleher |first1=Katy |title=Chartreuse, the Color of Elixirs, Flappers, and Alternate Realities |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/12/17/chartreuse-the-color-of-elixirs-flappers-and-alternate-realities/ |access-date=31 August 2024 |work=The Paris Review |date=17 December 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:La Grande Chartreuse, view from northwest 02 09a.jpg|thumb|The [[Grande Chartreuse]] monastery]]
[[File:Chartreuse-fake.jpg|thumb|Chartreuse counterfeits]]
[[File:Chartreuse caves img 5733.jpg|thumb|Chartreuse cellars]]
[[File:Chartreuse alambics img 5743.jpg|thumb|Old style [[pot still]]s no longer in regular use, having been replaced by [[stainless steel]] stills]]
According to tradition, a marshal of artillery to French king [[Henry IV of France|Henry IV]], [[François Annibal d'Estrées|François Hannibal d'Estrées]], presented the Carthusian [[monk]]s at [[Vauvert]], near [[Paris]], with an [[alchemy|alchemical]] manuscript that contained a recipe for an "elixir of long life" in 1605.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cartusian.tripod.com/id152.html|title=Chartreuse Liqueurs|work=Immaculate Heart of Mary's Hermitage |access-date=31 October 2013 |quote=The monks got hold of the recipe, originally a health potion, in 1605 but it was so complex they didn't master it for another century.}}</ref><ref name="Renault">{{cite news |last1=Renault |first1=Marion |title=An Elixir From the French Alps, Frozen in Time |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/17/business/chartreuse-monks-coronavirus.html |access-date=28 December 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=17 December 2020}}</ref> The recipe eventually reached the religious order's headquarters at the [[Grande Chartreuse]] monastery, north of Grenoble. The formula is said to include 130 herbs, plants and flowers and secret ingredients combined in a wine alcohol base.<ref name="History">[https://www.chartreuse.fr/en/histoire/history-of-the-chartreuse-liqueurs/ Chartreuse.fr History of the Chartreuse Liqueurs]</ref> The recipe was further enhanced in 1737 by Brother Gérome Maubec.

The beverage soon became popular, and in 1764 the monks adapted the elixir recipe to make what is now called the "Elixir Végétal de la Grande Chartreuse".<ref name="History"/>

In 1793, the monks were expelled from France along with all other religious orders and manufacture of the liqueur ceased. A copy of the manuscript was made and kept at the monastery. The original left with the monks. On the way there, the monk was arrested and sent to prison in [[Bordeaux]]. He was not searched and was able to secretly pass the manuscript to one of his friends: Dom Basile Nantas. This friend was convinced that the order would remain in Spain and never come back and that the manufacturing of the liqueur would cease. He sold the manuscript to a pharmacist in Grenoble, Monsieur Liotard. In 1810, [[Napoleon]] ordered that all "secret" recipes of medicine be sent to the [[Ministry of Interior (France)|Ministry of Interior]] for review. The manuscript was sent and returned as "Refused" as it was not a secret but well known. After the death of the pharmacist, his heirs returned the manuscript to the monks who had been back at the monastery since 1816.<ref name="History"/>{{Failed verification|date=April 2022}}

In 1840, they developed a milder version called Green Chartreuse and a sweeter version called Yellow Chartreuse.<ref name="History"/>

The monks were again expelled from the monastery following [[Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau#Associations Bill of 1901|a French law in 1903]], and their real property, including the distillery, was confiscated by the government. The monks took their secret recipe to their refuge in [[Tarragona]], Catalonia, and began producing their liqueurs with the same label, but with an additional label which said ''Liqueur fabriquée à Tarragone par les Pères Chartreux'' ("liqueur manufactured in Tarragona by the Carthusian Fathers"). At the same time, the "Compagnie Fermière de la Grande Chartreuse", a corporation in [[Voiron]] that obtained the Chartreuse assets, produced a liqueur without benefit of the monks' recipe which they sold as Chartreuse. While the French corporation was acting legally in France, the monks successfully prevented the export of the liqueur to many other countries, since the order retained ownership of its foreign trademark registrations, largely because the recipe had been kept secret.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=SFC19061007.2.77.6|title=Monks Sue to Prevent Use of Chartreuse Trademark|date=7 October 1906|work=San Francisco Call|page=34|access-date=1 December 2016}}</ref><ref name="Ladas1975">{{cite book |last1=Ladas |first1=Stephen Pericles |title=Patents, Trademarks, and Related Rights: National and International Protection |date=1975 |publisher=Harvard University Press |isbn=978-0-674-65775-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPIz4TNTpYEC&pg=PA1183 |page=1183 }}</ref> One dispute was litigated in the United States, in which the monks won a lawsuit defending their trademark in ''[[Baglin v. Cusenier]]''.<ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=11361850163736660859&hl=en&as_sdt=6&as_vis=1&oi=scholarr Baglin v. Cusenier Co., 221 U.S. 580 (1911)].</ref>

Sales at the French company were very poor, and by 1929, it faced [[bankruptcy]]. A group of local businessmen in Voiron bought all the shares at a low price and sent them as a gift to the monks in Tarragona.<ref name="History"/>
After regaining possession of the distillery, the Carthusian brothers returned to the monastery with the tacit approval of the French government and began to produce Chartreuse once again. Despite the eviction law, when a mudslide destroyed the distillery in 1935, the French government assigned army engineers to relocate and rebuild it at a location near Voiron where the monks had previously set up a distribution point. After [[World War II]], the government lifted the expulsion order, making the Carthusian brothers legal French residents once again.<ref name="History"/>

Until the 1980s, there was another distillery at [[Tarragona]] in Spain.<ref>{{cite web |title=Green Chartreuse, Tarragona Bot. 1980s|url=https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/P-26011.aspx |website=The Whisky Exchange}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Chartreuse Distilleries |url=http://www.chartreuse.fr/the-chartreuse-distilleries;article;45;uk.html |website=Chartreuse |access-date=12 February 2015 |archive-date=13 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150213021716/http://www.chartreuse.fr/the-chartreuse-distilleries;article;45;uk.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2017 the distillery moved from Voiron to nearby Aiguenoire due to safety concerns.<ref name="Renault"/>

Today, the liqueurs are produced using the herbal mixture prepared by two monks at Grande Chartreuse. They are the only ones to know the secret recipe. The marketing, bottling, packaging, management of the distillery and tours are done by ''Chartreuse Diffusion'', a company created in 1970.<ref name="History"/> Other related alcoholic beverages are manufactured in the same distillery (e.g. [[Génépi]]).

===21st century: popularity and scarcity===
[[File:Chartreuse bottles.jpg|thumb|A Chartreuse tasting in the U.S., left to right: Green, Yellow, Liqueur du 9° Centenaire, and MOF Chartreuse products]]
Chartreuse increased in popularity during the [[craft cocktail movement]] of the early 2000s, due to its bittersweet profile and effective marketing of its romantic history.<ref name="NYT20230414" /> Cocktails such as [[Last word (cocktail)|the Last Word]] were popularized by mixologists. In 2020, the trend toward at-home cocktail making during the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] doubled worldwide demand for the liqueur.<ref name="NYT20230414" /> Global sales of Chartreuse sales reached over US$30 million in 2022.<ref name="NYT20230414" />

Meanwhile, in a separate decision, the Carthusian monks decided in 2019 to limit Chartreuse production to 1.6 million bottles per year, citing the environmental impacts of production, and the monks' desire to focus on solitude and prayer.<ref name="NYT20230414" /> The combination of fixed production and increased demand has resulted in shortages of Chartreuse across the world.<ref name="NYT20230414">{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Becky |title=Why Is Chartreuse Hard to Find Right Now? Ask the Monks Who Make It. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/dining/drinks/chartreuse-shortage.html |access-date=28 April 2023 |work=The New York Times|date=14 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230424055950/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/dining/drinks/chartreuse-shortage.html?searchResultPosition=1 |archive-date=24 April 2023 |location=New York, NY}}</ref>

==Ingredients==
The book ''The Practical Hotel Steward'' (1900) states that Green Chartreuse contains "[[cinnamon]], [[mace (spice)|mace]], [[lemon balm]], dried [[hyssop]] flower tops, [[peppermint]], [[thyme]], [[costmary]], [[arnica]] flowers, [[genepi]], and [[Angelica archangelica|angelica]] roots", and that yellow chartreuse is "similar to above, adding [[cardamom]] seeds and [[aloe|socctrine aloes]]."<ref>John Tellman (1900)  [https://archive.org/details/practicalhotelst01tell ''The Practical Hotel Steward''], The Hotel Monthly, Chicago</ref> The monks intended their liqueur to be used as medicine. The exact recipes for all forms of Chartreuse remain [[trade secret]]s and are known at any given time only to the three monks{{Inconsistent|reason=Contradictory number of monks|date=30 April 2022}} who prepare the herbal mixture.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.chartreuse.fr/pa_history3_uk.htm |title=The 1605 Manuscript and the Secret of the "Elixir of Long Life" |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20011223010023/http://www.chartreuse.fr/pa_history3_uk.htm |archive-date=2001-12-23 |access-date=31 October 2013}}</ref> The only formally known element of the recipe is that it uses 130 different plants.<ref name="CL">{{cite book|title=Chartreuse the Liqueur|publisher=Chartreuse Diffusion|date=2019|isbn=978-2-74669-717-1|oclc=1138899458}}</ref>{{rp|11}}

Chartreuse is commonly used as an ingredient in cocktails, such as a [[Cloister (cocktail)|Cloister]] and [[Last Word (cocktail)|Last Word]].

==Types==
[[File:Yellow Chartreuse.jpg|thumb|upright|Yellow Chartreuse]]

===Green Chartreuse===
Green Chartreuse (110 [[Alcoholic proof|proof]] or 55% [[Alcohol by volume|ABV]]) is a naturally green liqueur made from 130 herbs and other plants macerated in alcohol and steeped for about eight hours. A last [[Maceration (food)|maceration]] of plants gives its color to the liqueur.<ref name="History"/> The first version of the liqueur was devised in 1825, with the modern version first released in 1840.<ref name="CL"/>{{rp|11}}

===Yellow Chartreuse===
Yellow Chartreuse (86 proof or 43%<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chartreuse.fr/en/produit/yellow-chartreuse/|title=Yellow Chartreuse|website=chartreuse.fr}}</ref>) has a milder and sweeter flavor and aroma than Green Chartreuse, and is lower in alcohol content.<ref name="History"/><ref name="CL"/>{{rp|11}}

===Chartreuse VEP===
VEP stands for ''Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé'',<ref>[http://frederickwildman.com/national/wine/chartreuse/green-vep/NV Chartreuse VEP]</ref> meaning "exceptionally prolonged aging". It is made using the same processes and the same secret formula as the traditional liqueur, and by extra long aging in [[oak casks]] it reaches an exceptional quality. Chartreuse VEP comes in both yellow and green.

===Élixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse===
[[File:Élixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse 06.jpg|thumb|upright|Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse]]
Élixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse (138 [[Alcoholic proof|proof]] or 69%<ref name="History"/>) has the same base of about 130 medicinal and aromatic plants and flowers but is more alcoholic. It can be described as a [[Cordial (medicine)|cordial]] or a liqueur, and is claimed to be a [[Herbal tonic|tonic]]. It is sold enclosed in small wooden bottles.

===Liqueur du 9° Centenaire===
Liqueur du 9° Centenaire (47%) was created in 1984 to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the founding of the abbey. It is similar to Green Chartreuse, but slightly sweeter.

===Chartreuse 1605 – Liqueur d'Elixir===
Chartreuse 1605 – Liqueur d'Elixir (56%) was created to commemorate the return of a mysterious manuscript concerning an elixir of long life to the Carthusian monks by [[Marshal of France|Marshal]] [[François Annibal d'Estrées]].

===White Chartreuse===
White Chartreuse (30% ABV) was produced and sold between 1860 and 1880, and again from 1886 to 1903.<ref name="CL"/>{{rp|11}}

===Génépi===
The monks make a [[Génépi]] which is the general term in the Alps for a homemade or local liqueur based on Alpine [[Artemisia (plant)|Artemisia]] flowers. There are hundreds or even thousands of different Génépi liqueurs made, many simply by families for their own use each year. As they have been making Chartreuse from local plants for centuries, the monks started in the 2000s to make a Génépi as a sideline product. It is labeled "Génépi des Pères Chartreux" and is generally only available locally in a 70&nbsp;cl bottle, usually labeled 40% alcohol.

===Cuvée des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France===
[[File:MOF Chartreuse and box, front.jpg|thumb|upright|Cuvée des Meilleurs Ouvriers de France (MOF) Chartreuse]]
In 2007, a special edition was created by the [[Meilleur Ouvrier de France|Meilleurs Ouvriers de France]] (Best Craftsmen of France) in partnership with the Chartreuse distillery. It is yellow in color (45% alcohol).<ref>Chartreuse.fr – Liqueur created by the Best Craftsmen of France "Sommeliers" [https://www.chartreuse.fr/en/produits/liqueur-created-by-the-best-craftsmen-of-france-sommeliers/]</ref>

==Flavor==
Chartreuse has a very strong characteristic taste. It is very sweet, but becomes both spicy and pungent. It is comparable to other herbal liqueurs such as [[Galliano (drink)|Galliano]], [[Strega (liqueur)|Liquore Strega]] or [[Kräuterlikör]], though it is distinctively more vegetal, or herbaceous. Like other liqueurs, its flavor is sensitive to serving temperature. If straight, it can be served very cold, but is often served at room temperature. It is also featured in some cocktails. Some mixed drink recipes call for only a few drops of Chartreuse due to its strong flavor. It is popular in French ski resorts where it is mixed with hot chocolate and called ''verte chaud'', translating to "hot green".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.1001cocktails.com/cocktails/805/recette-cocktail-green-chaud.html |title=Green chaud |access-date=31 October 2013 |archive-date=24 December 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121224074448/http://www.1001cocktails.com/cocktails/805/recette-cocktail-green-chaud.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://theeducatedbarfly.com/verte-chaud/ | title=Verte Chaud | date=9 December 2021 }}</ref>

Chartreuse is one of a handful of liqueurs that continue to age and improve in the bottle.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chartreuse: The only liqueur so good they named a color after it |first=Alex |last=Hecht |work=War on the Rocks |date=October 2014 |access-date=2014-12-02 |url=http://warontherocks.com/2014/10/chartreuse-the-only-liqueur-so-good-they-named-a-color-after-it}}</ref>{{Dubious|Aging in the bottle|date=July 2023|reason=claim not adequately supported by source}}

==Accolades==
Chartreuse liqueurs generally have performed well at international [[spirit ratings]] competitions. The basic green offering has won silver and double gold medals from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition. It has also earned an above-average score of 93 from the [[Beverage Testing Institute]] and has been given scores in the 96-100 interval by [[Wine Enthusiast]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.proof66.com/liqueur/chartreuse-green-liqueur.html|title=Proof66.com Summary of Chartreuse Green's Awards|access-date=31 October 2013|archive-date=2 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102143237/http://www.proof66.com/liqueur/chartreuse-green-liqueur.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The VEP Green and VEP Yellow have generally earned similarly impressive scores.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.proof66.com/liqueur/chartreuse-vep-green-liqueur.html|title=Proof66.com Summary of Chartreuse VEP Green's Awards|access-date=31 October 2013|archive-date=2 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102143401/http://www.proof66.com/liqueur/chartreuse-vep-green-liqueur.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The basic Yellow Chartreuse has received more modest (though still average or above) ratings.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.proof66.com/liqueur/chartreuse-yellow-liqueur.html|title=Proof66.com Summary of Chartreuse Yellow's Awards|access-date=31 October 2013|archive-date=2 November 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102143119/http://www.proof66.com/liqueur/chartreuse-yellow-liqueur.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Influence on color==
Chartreuse gives its name to the [[Chartreuse (color)|color chartreuse]], which was first used as a term of color in 1884.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Oxford English Dictionary|year=1989|edition=Second|title-link=The Oxford English Dictionary}}</ref> Chartreuse yellow is a color originally named "chartreuse" in 1892 after Yellow Chartreuse liqueur, but since 1987 it has been called "chartreuse yellow" to avoid confusion with the green version of chartreuse.

==See also==
{{Portal|Drink}}
* [[Stellina (liqueur)|Stellina]], a similar monastic liqueur made in the same region as Chartreuse
* [[Frangelico]], a liqueur allegedly based on a monastic recipe
* [[Bénédictine]], another liqueur allegedly based on a monastic recipe
* [[Centerbe]], an Italian liqueur of pale green color made from mountain herbs

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|title=Chartreuse the Liqueur|publisher=Chartreuse Diffusion|date=2019|isbn=978-2-74669-717-1|oclc=1138899458}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* {{Official website}}

{{Authority control}}
{{Alcoholic drinks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chartreuse (Liqueur)}}
[[Category:French liqueurs]]
[[Category:Herbal liqueurs]]
[[Category:17th-century introductions]]
[[Category:Cuisine of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes]]