It's 110 proof and imported from France

May 5, 2022 1:29 PM

Chartreuse had its own party drink? In branded Mason Jars? Yes. Punchdrink takes us to a time when desperate importers thought big -- and gives us a modern remix. David Lebovitz gives us the original recipe and the ads that introduced it.
posted by Hypatia (22 comments total)

Sounds like a great drink for a game of Pass-Out.
posted by box at 1:46 PM on May 5, 2022

Chartreuse became a darling of the cocktails revival after Audrey Saunders stocked it in the rail at Pegu Club around seventeen years ago. There was a time when it was simply inescapable and I got so tired of the distinctive flavor that it put me off Chartreuse for around five years. I've since recovered happily. It's a key component in what I think is the preeminent "lost and forgotten" cocktail, the "Jimmy Roosevelt" from Charles Baker's The Gentleman's Companion.
posted by slkinsey at 1:50 PM on May 5, 2022

Lately I've been loving the Last Word, in revived Chartreuse cocktails, so I look forward to trying the revised iteration of this one.
posted by CrystalDave at 1:55 PM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

This is fun. Thanks! I'm more a neat/straight-up charteuse consumer and this sounds way too sweet for me, but also appealing. Cheers to those who love it. (And it makes me vaguely regret that I'm not drinking this year. To be clear, it doesn't make me regret it in a bad way.) I think I might swap the pineapple for something more subtle or fizzy. Maybe a little gomme syrup, soda, and a slightly less sweet juice? Tangerine?

I was served as chartreuse and baijiu once in a hipster bar with a big clear ice cube and a sprig of some herb (thyme?) that I still remember fondly. It was a great combination.
posted by eotvos at 2:02 PM on May 5, 2022

You know its funny, I drink and like Chartreuse straight but I never think to use it in a cocktail which I knew in theory was a thing but I never think to drink it that way. But despite its name the cocktail Swamp Water sounds pretty good to me.

What we called Swamp Water was random opened cans of random soft drinks we'd find at a family gathering which we would combine in a bowl, like a punch and share out among the kids, fishing out the cigarette butts as needed.
posted by Ashwagandha at 2:12 PM on May 5, 2022 [2 favorites]

Lately I've been loving the Last Word...

That's a good one that made the rounds in circa 2007 after being "rediscovered" by Murray Stenson at the Zig Zag Cafe in Seattle. It's a formula that's perfect for riffing. Sub 100 proof rye for the gin and you've got a Final Ward, sub tequila for gin and you've for the Ultima Palabra, sub mezcal for gin and shake with a slice of serrano pepper for a Last of the Oaxacans, sub genever for a Dutch Word, and then go further afield by subbing 100 proof rye for the gin, yellow for green chartreuse, lemon for lime and Benedictine for the maraschino and you've got the extremely tasty Monte Cassino, and so on...
posted by slkinsey at 2:14 PM on May 5, 2022 [2 favorites]

Another great drink with Chartreuse is the Kill-Devil: 2 oz. 100 proof rhum agricole blanc, 0.5 oz. green Chartreuse, 1.5 tsp. 2:1 demerara syrup, 3 dashes Angostura bitters; stir; strain; garnish with a disc of lime peel turned inside out & floated on the surface of the drink, put a few drops of overproof rum in the "lime boat" and set ablaze.
posted by slkinsey at 2:29 PM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Punchdrink also points to Chartreuse Orange as further evidence of Chartreuse’s wayward 1970s.
posted by zamboni at 2:34 PM on May 5, 2022

Chartreuse for me was made famous by the Billy Brite vampire novel, Lost Souls, which had an outsized influence on my teen years.
posted by Kitteh at 3:14 PM on May 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

Hey! I made this back forty or so years ago. The recipe came from Gourmet Magazine. Pineapple juice and chartreuse, mmmm. Great on a really hot day.
posted by CCBC at 3:48 PM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Carthusian Champagne Cocktail: A liberal swirl of Chartreuse into a chilled champagne shell. Swirl to coat the sides. Fill with chilled champagne. Garnish with a twist of lemon peel. Enjoy...
posted by jim in austin at 3:55 PM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Thanks for the link! I made this tonight.

I will not be making it again.
posted by true at 5:22 PM on May 5, 2022 [6 favorites]

When I was a kid in the 70s there was a fragment my brother and I would repeat, "swamp water: green chartreuse and pineapple juice" in a sort of "Monster Mash" fashion. I kept this with me forever until oh, about 10 years ago when I took to Google to bottom out my memory. No reference to the couplet, which isn't in the linked articles and there weren't TV ads for liquor, so that's a mystery, but I did come up with a 1:1 pineapple juice-to-chartreuse recipe (the article puts the ratio at about 4:1). I did manage to find some place to make it for me, and it was good! I tried to get it in a lot of places, since I am the king of asking for obscure cocktails (just wait until I get the nerve to order a Bull's Milk), but there always seemed to be one specific problem: bars rarely have pineapple juice.

Still curious about where the jingle came from, though.
posted by rhizome at 6:34 PM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Punchdrink also points to Chartreuse Orange as further evidence of Chartreuse’s wayward 1970s.

Surely it was a mistake not to name it Chartreuse Harvest Gold.
posted by rhizome at 6:37 PM on May 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Well I love all versions of chartreuse, so all these links sound amazing. That said chartreuse orange sounds just bonkers. I'm surprised at such a low proof with orange juice it had lasted this long tbh.
posted by Carillon at 9:40 PM on May 5, 2022

Surely it was a mistake not to name it Chartreuse Harvest Gold.

Today I learned that the film title is a reference to a color.
posted by eotvos at 4:59 AM on May 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

I remember Chartreuse being the darling of goth house parties.
posted by HumanComplex at 5:50 AM on May 6, 2022 [2 favorites]

I'm surprised at such a low proof with orange juice it had lasted this long tbh.

The later part of the article is largely Chartreuse experts diplomatically advising that drinking fifty year old fruit juice may not be the best idea.
posted by zamboni at 7:28 AM on May 6, 2022

In the Savoie I have found Chartreuse-filled Valrhona chocolates lined with crystalized sugar which were amazing. Highly recommended even if you're not normally a fan of liquer candies. But honestly I don't even know if they are available still, I have never seen them anywhere else.
posted by St. Oops at 8:52 AM on May 6, 2022

Okay, I'm going to have to wait for JazzFest crowds to clear out, but I'm definitely going to have to try Manolito's version. I wonder if they use the branded jars like in the photo.

Edit: It is $22 for one swamp water, so... maybe I'll just get a bottle of Chartreuse and figure it out myself.
posted by gee_the_riot at 10:08 AM on May 6, 2022

I spent some time in Gourmet's archives, but couldn't locate this recipe. Anyways:

1 375ml bottle green chartreuse
1 1.36Liter can pineapple juice
1 lime, juice of
1 squeeze of fresh lemon juice. optional
Pour over crushed ice. Straws are nice.

An elderly friend named this drink "Will O' the Wisp", but that was after she'd had a few. Folks, this is good! But it's a hot-weather drink. So, next heat dome...
posted by CCBC at 3:22 PM on May 6, 2022

Gentle readers, I made the “improved” swamp water recipe, and it did not impress me. We found it vague and surprisingly inoffensive(?) for a Chartreuse based drink. I present instead one of my favorite Chartreuse cocktails, The Witches. I use fino sherry if I don’t have manzanilla, but I think the Linie is a must.
posted by Hypatia at 11:04 AM on May 8, 2022 [1 favorite]