Delices & Gourmandises introduces to you the Chartreuse

Used to aromatize chocolate, and in many cocktails recipes, the Chartreuse are also part of many delicious recipes. Delices & Gourmandises presents you this famous flavored liquor.

The story of the Chartreuse by Delices & Gourmandises

The Chartreuse is made of a mix of 130 plants that are macerated in alcohol, and in which is added distillated honey and sugar and sugar syrup. No chemical product is added. The macerated beverage is aged in oak barrels before it is put into bottles. A longer ageing helps to optimize the quality of the drink, for it to gain the appellation “V.E.P”.

It has probably been created in the 17th century when the Maréchal d’Estrée entrusted an elixir that was supposed to help having a very long life to the Chartreux monks in Paris. But it was in Grenoble, in 1737, when a simpler method for producing it was discovered that the 55° green Chartreuse won its fame.

Despite many problems as the French Revolution in 1789, the ejection of the Chratreux from France and the destruction of the main distillery in Fourvoirie, the monks kept the recipe as a secret and opened a new distillery in Voiron where the beverage is still produced until nowadays.

The Chartreuse, a main ingredient for several cocktails

There are many versions of the Chartreuse as the traditional green chartreuse, the yellow chartreuse of 40° that has flowers scents, the “Génépi”, etc.

Drunk “on the rocks”, mixed with tonic or several fruits juices (as lemon or apple juice), or with other alcoholic drinks, the chartreuse gives many possibilities of cocktails. You can so make your own mixes, as long as your imagination works.

This beverage is ideally served fresh or iced as liquor. But it can also be used for aromatizing pastries and desserts as pancakes, ice-creams, apple pastries. Try it with iced melon, it’s delicious. It is included in many recipes of Delices & Gourmandises products. Used in cooking, it perfectly accompanies smoked fishes and poultry sauces.