WHEN I WAS in ninth grade, I read a book called The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury.  It’s a collection of really cool science fiction short stories, one of which is called The Fox and The Forest.  It’s about a couple who travels back in time to escape from what they consider a horrible existence as scientists working on weapons for the war that their future civilization is fighting.  It was a very interesting tale, but as a ninth grader, I was confused by the very last sentence in the story:  She pointed to the closet, where there were 67 bottles of chartreuse, cognac, creme de cacao, absinthe, vermouth, tequila, 106 cartons of Turkish cigarettes and 198 yellow boxes of fifty-cent pure Havana-filler cigars…  I didn’t know what chartreuse was, so I asked my English teacher, Mrs. Crawley, to explain it to me.  She told me that chartreuse was a color that was a combination of green and yellow sometimes called Paris Green.  At the time, that explanation made absolutely no sense to me at all.  When I recently read the story again, I understood the sentence, but I didn’t understand why my English teacher didn’t tell me what chartreuse really was.  I find it hard to believe that she didn’t know that it was more than just a color.  But what if she didn’t know?  I can now answer the question for her and she can enjoy this new-found knowledge while she’s enjoying her retirement.

So, what is chartreuse?  Chartreuse is a French liqueur composed of distilled alcohol flavored with 130 herbal extracts.  The name is derived from the Grande Chartreuse Monastery where it was originally produced.  There are several types of Chartreuse, the two most common being Green Chartreuse and Yellow Chartreuse.  Green Chartreuse is 110 proof while the sweeter and milder Yellow Chartreuse is 80 proof.  Chartreuse has a very distinct characteristic flavor.  It’s sweet, but turns both pungent and spicy.  Although the flavor is complex, anise is easily discernible as one of the key ingredients.  There are several cocktails that include Chartreuse as an ingredient.  A Chartini is three parts gin and one part Green Chartreuse.  The Trois Roses de Grenoble is four parts Yellow Chartreuse two parts whiskey, and one part gin.  My favorite of all the Chartreuse cocktails is The Bijou.  It’s equal parts Chartreuse, gin and sweet vermouth with a couple of dashes of orange bitters.   It is mesmerizing.

The history of Chartreuse dates to 1605 when Francois Hannibal d’ Estrees presented the monks at the Chartreuse monastery with an ancient manuscript titled An Elixir of Long Life.  The recipe described in the manuscript was so complex that only bits and pieces of it were understood for quite some time.  What was known gave the monks the idea to use it for medicinal purposes only.  In 1737, an exhaustive study of the manuscript was undertaken by Frere Jerome Maubec.  He succeeded in unraveling the secrets of the manuscript and the Chartreuse Elixir was produced for the first time and distributed as a medicine.  Today, this original formula is still produced by the Chartreuse monks and is known as Elixir Vegetal de la Grand-Chartreuse.  It’s made from plants, herbs and other botanicals and is 71% alcohol by volume or 142 proof.

The elixir was so tasty that it was more often consumed as a beverage than as a medicine.  Recognizing this, the monks adapted the recipe to make a milder beverage.  In 1764, what is known as Green Chartreuse was introduced.  Upon its release, it became remarkably popular and its availability was no longer restricted to the area surrounding La Grande Chartreuse.

During the French Revolution, members of all religious orders were ordered to leave the country.  The monks of Chartreuse fled in 1793.  In 1810, Emperor Napoleon ordered all secret recipes of medicines to be sent to the Ministry of the Interior.  The current recipe holder, Monsieur Liotard, submitted the secret manuscript.  It was returned to him marked Refused.  Apparently, it was so complex that the Ministry deemed it unusable.  The original manuscript changed hands several times during the revolution, but was eventually returned to the Chartreuse monks.

In 1838, the sweeter and milder Yellow Chartreuse was developed.  After that, nothing exciting took place until 1903 when the monks were once again expelled from France.  They fled to Spain where they built a new distillery in Tarragona and continued to produce their liqueurs.  By 1929, the monks had regained possession of the Chartreuse trademark and had resumed production of Chartreuse in France.  Then an avalanche destroyed their distillery in 1935, so a new one was built in Voiron.

Today, only two monks are entrusted by the Order with the secret of producing Chartreuse.  They are the only people who know the ingredients and know how to prepare the ingredients for incorporation into the base wine alcohol.  What is known is that there are 130 herbs, plants, roots, leaves, and other bits of vegetation that are soaked in alcohol for an unknown length of time, then distilled and mixed with distilled honey and sugar syrup and aged in large oak casks.  A small portion of this liquor is selected for special treatment.  It is aged for an extra length of time and after the chief distiller declares it ready for bottling, it is packaged and marketed as V. E. P. Chartreuse (Viellissement Exceptionnellement Prolonge).  It’s actually packaged in one liter reproductions of bottles used in 1840.  Each of these bottles is numbered, sealed with wax, and packaged in a carefully fitted wooden box.

So, there you have it Mrs. Crawley — Chartreuse: numbered, waxed, and packaged.  Yes, I know that Chartreuse is a color, but it’s also a delicious beverage made from a super secret recipe.  I hope that you knew that, but if not, I hope that I get an A on this essay.  Just remember that Chartreuse is best served neat.  It can also be enjoyed chilled, but do not shake it in ice to chill it.  Instead pour it into a metal shaker and place the shaker in ice to allow the properties of transference to chill the chartreuse so that it doesn’t get diluted.  And even though you’re retired, please drink responsibly.  Chartreuse may be delicious, but it does pack a significant punch.

IF YOU LOOK up the word malign in any standard English dictionary, you’ll find the following definition: to speak harmful untruths about; speak evil of; slander; defame.  If I was in charge of choosing the descriptive pictures that accompany some words in the dictionary, I’d place a picture of a bottle of vermouth next to the word malign.  Nothing on Earth has been more maligned than vermouth, except maybe Wes Craven’s movie The People Under the Stairs.  With a renewed interest in classic cocktails, I thought that it would be a good idea to take a look at the most disparaged bottle on the bar so that we can understand what it is and why it is an integral part of some of the best known classic cocktails.

Vermouth is a fortified wine to which botanicals are added.  The name vermouth is derived from the German word wermut or the Anglo-Saxon word wermod which both mean wormwood.  Wormwood was known by ancient civilizations in Rome, Greece, and Egypt for its medicinal powers.  Since wormwood is extremely bitter, sugar and spices were combined with it to make it more palatable.  During the late 18th century an Italian named Antonio Carpano began fortifying cheap wine with a distilled spirit, most notably brandy, in an attempt to not only improve its flavor, but to extend the life of the wine.  He would then add wormwood and other spices such as cloves, juniper, nutmeg, citrus peel, coriander, ginger, sage, chamomile, cinnamon and hops.  It is thought that he was inspired by a German wine flavored with wormwood and this is probably why he called his creation vermouth.

There are several different types of vermouth, ranging from the dry vermouth used in martinis, to the very sweet vermouth that is consumed as an aperitif.  As early as the 1830’s, vermouth began to appear in the U. S.  During that time, dry vermouth was referred to as French while sweet vermouth was called Italian.  This distinction was based on their country of origin, but these days those terms are no longer in vogue.  It is known that by 1853, the French company Noilly Prat was shipping its dry white vermouth to places like New Orleans and San Francisco.  This should not be surprising since both cities were heavily populated with citizens of French decent.  By the 1860’s, sweet red vermouth from Italy had made significant inroads in New York.

Before long, people started to take notice of this vino vermouth.  This led to experimentation by the bar-men of the day in New York City and culminated with the creation of the Vermouth Cocktail — a very simple drink consisting of two ounces of sweet vermouth with a piece of lemon peel and a few cubes of ice served in a stemmed tulip-shaped glass.  Like many of the cocktails of that era that included ingredients containing herbs and spices, the Vermouth Cocktail was quite often prescribed as a remedy for hangovers.  It was also preferred by those who did not like to start the day with a hangover because the low alcohol content of the drink made its consumption less painful the next morning.

The creation of the Vermouth Cocktail came at a time when an interesting transition for bartenders and their clientele was beginning to occur.  Bar patrons’ palates began to mature and  their tastes began to move away from cocktails that were made simply by pouring liquor over ice and adding a few dashes of bitters to it.  Sometime around the mid-1860’s, someone began blending sweet vermouth with brandy, rye, whiskey and gin.  These new concoctions were complex and flavorful with less of an impact on one’s ability to leave the bar under one’s own power after consuming a few of them.  The first of these amazing cocktails was the Manhattan which paved the way for the Martinez and the king of all cocktails — the Martini.

So why has something so important to the creation of three of the most important classic cocktails become so reviled?  That’s a good question.  One theory is that not only is vermouth misunderstood, but also mistreated.  Since vermouth is a wine, it should probably be treated as such.  Once opened, it will oxidize in a relatively short time.  That means that its flavor will change in short order.  Consequently, if you’re not there when the bottle is opened, you’re probably not going to get the vermouth when it’s at its best.  To remedy this, once opened, do not throw away the cap.  Air causes oxidation, so putting a pour spout on the bottle will not help your cause.  Next, when not in use, store it in the refrigerator.  It’s probably also a good idea to chill it before you open it for the first time.  Chilling it will slow the oxidation process.  Also, tasting the vermouth when you open it for the first time gives you a sense of its flavor profile giving you a point of reference that allows you to determine when it may be time to replace it.

Another thing to keep in mind is quality.  When vermouth was created, it was as a way to salvage really bad wine.  These days, that is not the case.  Artisan vermouth producers such as Vya are making well-crafted products that are not only great for making cocktails, but good enough that many chefs have begun to replace white wine with dry vermouth for cooking.  These same chefs are even pairing vermouth with meals as either an aperitif or digestif.

So, there you have it — vermouth un-vilified.  As vermouth begins to reemerge on bars and become more appreciated as a legitimate ingredient in cocktails and as a aperitif and digestif, I hope that more of you take the opportunity to experience this red-headed stepchild of the cocktail world.  If you’re feeling daring this weekend, stop by your local liquor outlet and purchase a small bottle of sweet vermouth.  It can be enjoyed just as you’d enjoy a glass of port or sherry and it’s very good.  Maybe you’re preparing a meal that calls for white wine as an ingredient.  Why not substitute that ingredient with dry vermouth?  Martini & Rossi has been around for well over 150 years and has a great reputation, while new comers like Vya are breaking new ground with their high-quality artisan creations.  As always, whether you’re enjoying a cocktail that blends your favorite liquor with vermouth or you’re trying it as an aperitif or digestif, please drink responsibly.

HAVE YOU EVER been sitting at a bar and noticed a really cool looking bottle that you’d never seen before?  Have you ever wanted to ask the bartender what it was, but were afraid that he’d look down his nose at you with disdain?  I know bartenders who would do that, so I don’t blame you for not asking.  Fear not.  Now you can ask me.  I had planned on starting this series a few months ago, but I never did, so today I’ll kick it off with an unusual looking bottle with a delightful liqueur inside called St-Germain.

St-Germain is an award winning liqueur made from the freshly handpicked flowers of Sambucus nigra – known as elderflower.  These wild blossoms grow in the foothills of the Alps and are very delicate.  In order to gather enough of the flowers during the 2-3 week window of blossoming, French farmers use specially rigged bicycles to deliver the elderflower blossoms to local depots.  Once picked, these fragile flowers are very short-lived.  Within a matter of a few days, they lose their delicate flavor and fragrance.

Freshness is the key to making St-Germain.  Most liqueurs made with elderflower are syrupy and non-alcoholic because they are extracted from freeze dried or frozen flowers.  Some refer to these beverages as cordials.  They are insanely sweet and very inconsistent.  Another difficulty with making liqueurs with elderflower is that traditional maceration processes yield very little flavor and other customary processes for extracting the nectar, such as pressing, cause the resulting liquid to taste bitter.

In order to create St-Germain, a new method of extracting the essence of the elderflower had to be invented.  Sadly, this method is a closely guarded family secret, so we may never know how it’s actually done.  Once extracted, the elderflower maceration is combined with eau-de-vie using an alembic still.  The next step is to blend the resulting spirit with a hint of citrus and a little sugar cane to enhance the elderflower blossoms’ natural flavor.  The finished product has a clean floral nose with hints of grapefruit zest, pear, and peach.  There are also notes of the fresh flavor of the elderflower which should remind you of honeysuckle.

St-Germain is very delicious by itself.  I like it chilled.  However, there are several cocktails that have this sweet liqueur as an ingredient.  My favorite is called The St-Rita.  It consists of 1 1/2 shots of Tequila Blanco, 1 1/2 shots of St-Germain, and 1/2-1/4 shot of freshly squeezed lime juice.  To make it, add all of the ingredients to a shaker along with ice.  Shake well and strain into a glass filled with ice.  A salted rim is optional.  Another option is to strain the mixture into a martini glass.

I’ve also created a drink with St-Germain as an ingredient.  If you’ve paid attention to my posts, you know that I always name my drinks after friends, but since I like to keep my friends anonymous in my posts, I’llcall my new drink The Summer Girl Cocktail.  The drink consists of 1 1/2 shots of St-Germain, 1 1/2 shots of Blue Curacao, and at least 4 ounces of Champagne.  To make it, add the St-Germain and Blue Curacao to a champagne flute.  Then top it off with the champagne.  Garnish the flute with an orange wedge.  It’s a very refreshing alternative to the Sunday morning mimosa.

So there you have it — a short, but sweet description of the mysterious bottle behind the bar.  I hope to continue revealing the secrets of the bottles from time to time.  Hopefully, I’ll cover the bottles that are of interest to you.