Sadly, I only recall having this almost 20 years ago. I probably wasn't old enough to appreciate it then. As I get older, I tend to appreciate the depth of flavour and savour these things so such more.
Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
11–20 of 166 posts
Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
#12Chartreuse is a bit weird in that it's a kind of joint partnership between an isolationist monastery [1] and a liquor producer/distributor.
I lived near Voiron and did the obligatory tour of the production facility (I already liked the liquor thanks to a friend (hey Iv!), and the place smelled delicious!) They do a good job maintaining the mystique of the Secret Recipe Known Only By A Handful™, which I suppose the monks tolerate and maintain to ensure the steady revenue stream. As one story goes, they were the "first internationally distributed" liquor when the French Foreign Legion loved the stuff and decided to always have some on their campaigns.
The Carthusian monks are an isolationist order, with intentionally limited contact with the outside, which dovetails well with Chartreuse mystique. There was a 2005 documentary, Into Great Silence [2], about life inside the monastery, whose filming was granted 18 years after it was first requested!
I'm sure Quentin Tarantino already has a good supply of the liquor ;)
If you're ever around the Alpes, try and find some genepi [3] liquor (not to be confused with absinthe! Made from same genus, different species,) which you'll find is 70% of the flavour of Chartreuse!
(dang, I miss Grenoble)
[1] https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grande_Chartreuse
Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
#13Probably a good decision even for the customers. Single-malt Scotch blew up in popularity decades ago, and my favorite brands just weren't the same after about the 1990s. I've stopped even trying.
I disagree: the popularity explosion was accompanied by the development of local production in surprising places. You can now find good whisky nearly everywhere.
And to be fair it’s the same with herbal liqueurs. Don’t get me wrong Chartreuse is good but it’s highly likely people can find something comparable produced close by.
Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
#14well the answer is easy, it's all on Larry Wall's homepage: http://www.wall.org/~larry/
Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
#15“satisfying the demands of some knucklehead mixologist doing his little riff on the Last Word at some lame speakeasy in some third-tier city.”
This has to be the shittiest most pretensions statement I’ve read all year.
Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
#16I studied in Grenoble (near Voiron where the Chartreuse is made) and had a lot of hangover because of it. The "party-cocktail" over there is TNT (Tip'n'top) : Chartreuse / Vodka / Orangina on shooters. Good memories.
Same here (ENSERG/Phelma). I find it funny that the name for Chartreuse + Hot chocolate in English is "Verte chaud" (I'll skip the conjugation error), while it's "Green chaud" in French.
That's because marketing people in France have to use English words for everything, for some reason.
They think it sounds cool but in this case it is really ridiculous.
Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
#17Making millions of cases does not make any sense in today’s environmental content and will have a negative impact on the planet
Interesting that they make this argument, and not the rather more obvious one that their 55 ABV spirit, like all spirits, is going to be overwhelmingly consumed by people who drink way too much.
Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
#18Probably a good decision even for the customers. Single-malt Scotch blew up in popularity decades ago, and my favorite brands just weren't the same after about the 1990s. I've stopped even trying.
I disagree: the popularity explosion was accompanied by the development of local production in surprising places. You can now find good whisky nearly everywhere. And to be fair it’s the same with herbal liqueurs. Don’t get me wrong Chartreuse is good but it’s highly likely people can find something comparable produced close by.
Apparently, the five best substitutes for Green Chartreuse are Dolin Génépy, White Sambuca, Strega, Bénédictine and Drambuie.
Can't say I tried any of them though.
Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
#19Artificially limiting production on a secret recipe liqueur is a great tactic for turning what could be a commodity into more like a Veblen good. The opposite has happened to Campari, where you can now buy a ton of different red-hued craft aperitivo with similar flavor profiles.
The article missed out on mentioning the best Chartreuse-based cocktail though: The Last Word. It’s absolutely sublime. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Last_word_(cocktail)
Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?
#20Probably a good decision even for the customers. Single-malt Scotch blew up in popularity decades ago, and my favorite brands just weren't the same after about the 1990s. I've stopped even trying.
I disagree: the popularity explosion was accompanied by the development of local production in surprising places. You can now find good whisky nearly everywhere. And to be fair it’s the same with herbal liqueurs. Don’t get me wrong Chartreuse is good but it’s highly likely people can find something comparable produced close by.
Even in the area around where Chartreus is from there is Genepi. It’s not a brand, more of a style. I’m not an expert but one might say Chartreus is a style of Genepi. There’s some very good Genepi’s out there (and some pretty bad ones targeted at tourists).