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Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

everydaydrinking.com

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Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#91
post #76

Unlike the author, I do not applaud the artificial limiting if supply. I find it incredibly annoying that it's become impossible to find Chartreuse and that the prices are skyrocketing. It's such a key and irreplaceable ingredient in many cocktails. Unlike a fancy whiskey or whatever, there is little you can substitute for it, so I'm not unable to get my orders at many of my favorite cocktail bars.

Oh yeah this is a real nightmare.

Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#92
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to think this comment was meant as a praise to the drink, but it sincerely rang as a selfish rant about how unhappy you are because your favorite cocktails will be harder to find.

Why should anyone not be unhappy that their favorite cocktail is harder to find? The article tried to paint the monks in a favorable light for limiting their production for environmental reasons but the phrasing rings hollow to me. They didn’t stop all production, or release the recipe to the world. They merely limited their output which, much like many companies with monopoly power are currently finding, allows them…

Managing lots of production is more work and work of a different character than managing small production. They are happier managing small production. It’s odd to fault them for that.

Do you work every hour you possibly could? Would it be reasonable for someone to complain that you owe them more work because they would really like it if you worked more?

Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#93
post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to think this comment was meant as a praise to the drink, but it sincerely rang as a selfish rant about how unhappy you are because your favorite cocktails will be harder to find.

Why should anyone not be unhappy that their favorite cocktail is harder to find? The article tried to paint the monks in a favorable light for limiting their production for environmental reasons but the phrasing rings hollow to me. They didn’t stop all production, or release the recipe to the world. They merely limited their output which, much like many companies with monopoly power are currently finding, allows them…

The original comment did not come across as bitter-sweet as it should be. It came across as entitled, sort of disgruntled by the fact that the monks keep the secret to themselves and the drink can not be industrialized and produced to such an extent that they can enjoy their favorite drinks wherever they please and of course, at a reasonable cost!

Their attitude is akin to how people complain and demand stuff from open source projects and why authors are annoyed when supporting such projects.

It reminds me of "The Menu" movie, the producers got fed up with the consumers and they took drastic actions. Wasn't a big fan of the movie but I can see how creators would go to such extremes or at least fantasize about them.

Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#94
post #76

Unlike the author, I do not applaud the artificial limiting if supply. I find it incredibly annoying that it's become impossible to find Chartreuse and that the prices are skyrocketing. It's such a key and irreplaceable ingredient in many cocktails. Unlike a fancy whiskey or whatever, there is little you can substitute for it, so I'm not unable to get my orders at many of my favorite cocktail bars.

It's not quite so simple. A race to supply authentic Chartreuse at extremely high volumes is likely to produce ditchwater. Authentic ditchwater with the correct label on the bottle, but useless for drinking.

Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#95

Probably 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.

Sure, local distilling has benefited. It's a great point. My tiny town had an excellent micro-distillery that made really nice bourbon and my favorite gin.

But I really miss the way Talisker tasted up until the 1990s. And I'm guessing that's never coming back. For better or worse, Scotland isn't local for me and whatever may have replaced Talisker seems to be under the radar from here.

Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#96
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

270mg of caffeine and 112ml of alcohol per 750ml bottle. Like three strong coffees and seven shots of vodka in a single serving. I truly think it ought to be taxed heavily to repay the costs that society bares for it's existence.

Surely they don't market it as a single serving!? It is fairly weak as far as fortified wines go, but you typically don't drink a whole bottle... As far as the caffeine, the whole bottle has less than a scoop of most pre-workout.

But you could finish a whole bottle, even if you had a low tolerance for alcohol, because of the caffeine.

Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#97

Chartreuse 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 mo…

Could anyone on HN give some insight as to what these 130 might be? to my knowledge, we don't even have 130 edible spices/plants growing naturally in France!

Of course there are more than that. Look at any comprehensive guide book on edible/foreageable plants and you'll definitely find more than a couple hundreds. For example, the plants for a future database (https://pfaf.org/user/Default.aspx) lists thousands of edible plants that grow in temperate climates. Many plants are edible if only for some parts and many are not particularly tasty and/or need some preparation.

Edit: To answer the question of the composition, the dominant taste comes from Tanacetum balsamita (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanacetum_balsamita).

Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#98
post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

270mg of caffeine and 112ml of alcohol per 750ml bottle. Like three strong coffees and seven shots of vodka in a single serving. I truly think it ought to be taxed heavily to repay the costs that society bares for it's existence.

It's the British equivalent of Four Loko.

It is a bit funny that Four Loko got this reputation, when alcohol+caffeine have been helping people make bad decisions faster for ages (it isn’t like the FDA is gonna somehow ban rum and coke).

Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#99
post #9

Probably 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 was born in the early/mid 90s so I haven't experienced what it was "before", but can you expand? I'm a big enjoyer of whisky so I'm interested in what changed for you.

Thanks for asking. For me a lot of single-malt scotch, up until around 2000 (maybe later) seemed never to have been completely domesticated as a normal consumer product. Depending on what kind you liked, it could be almost kind of gross. My favorite in the 1990s was Talisker, which had almost a kind of rotting fish flavor. I have literally tried mixing a dash of fish sauce into today's Talisker to recover that. (Unfortunately that doesn't seem to work.)

Talisker now is a bit fiery, maybe very slightly reminiscent of the sea, and otherwise unobjectionable. It doesn't have what I need. I wish them well, but either my taste has changed or theirs has.

Re: Where has all the Chartreuse gone?

#100
post #76

Unlike the author, I do not applaud the artificial limiting if supply. I find it incredibly annoying that it's become impossible to find Chartreuse and that the prices are skyrocketing. It's such a key and irreplaceable ingredient in many cocktails. Unlike a fancy whiskey or whatever, there is little you can substitute for it, so I'm not unable to get my orders at many of my favorite cocktail bars.

>>I do not applaud the artificial limiting if supply.

If someone asks you to work 14 hour days but you only choose to work 8 hours a day, are you artificially limiting the supply of your labour? Or making a sensible choice for yourself? The monks have decided they don't want to turn the drink they make into a massive corporation that would be required to make it at the volume the world wants to consume. That is to be applauded - not many people have the strength and sensibility to say no when the demands of the world are greater than what is good for them and their community.

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