“I would give a kingdom for a steady supply of Chartreuse,” Shakespeare wrote at least in the early 1590s, about a decade before François Anibal d'Estrées published his famous Chartreuse recipe of 1605. Four centuries later, the modern cocktail world is suffering from a Chartreuse shortage and we're clamoring for it. Alternative proposalWhile there are plenty of commercial liquors available to use in a pinch, some bartenders take a more hands-on approach.
Lucas B. Smith, cocktail director for The Line Hotel and its bars in Washington, D.C. No goodbyeabout 70 different botanicals are measured out in specific proportions to develop a specialty liqueur. “We call it Green Dream,” he says.
Smith's labor of love has been in the works for more than a decade, even before the shortage. His efforts began in 2013 as a keen interest, or even an obsession, and after a decade of trial and error, a fully formed green dream has emerged, at a fortunate time given the current Chartreuse crisis. “We're in a desert right now,” he says. “It's a scarce market.”
No Goodbyes is one of a string of bars around the world that have stepped up to find alternatives, though not all are as strict as Smith's.
Portland, Oregon Take 2opened in April of this year, found no single, perfectly matched alternative and decided to solve the problem themselves. For bar owner/operator David Sigal, that meant pairing three products from the Chartreuse family—locally produced Elixir Ver Liqueur and Accompani Flora Green—with Enrico Toro Centerba, a high-ABV product from Italy. Ver provides herbal notes, Flora Green has a spicy, savory character, and the 70 percent ABV Centerba provides the energy.
Take-Two's blends are not exactly the same. “They're like sisters, not twins,” says Sigal. “They're in the same space, but they're different. I think it's a great opportunity to try something new.” He describes the blends as Green DayIt contains gin, ginger, lime, jalapeño, mint and cucumber syrup.
Singapore Jigger and PonyRealizing that the demand for Chartreuse continues to grow even as the Chartreuse shortage continues, the company also took some “creative freedom” in making its own version of the liqueur.
Jigger & Pony's ingredients are similar to the original, but adapted to the bar's own tastes. After an extensive research and development process, they settled on a combination of available liqueurs and ingredients: mint, vetiver root, angelica root and gentian for bitter and herbal notes, chamomile and violets for floral accents, clove, cinnamon and nutmeg for spice, and citrus to brighten and round out the whole thing. The house Chartreuse also calls for a unique finishing touch: “The addition of Chardonnay wine brings out the fruity complexity of green apple,” says Hu.
He bought the ingredients for Jigger & Pony's popular recipe. Nuclear Daiquiri“Making our own Chartreuse gives us complete control over the quality and flavor profile, allowing us to tailor it to perfectly match any cocktail,” says Foo. “It's truly both an art and a science.”
Meanwhile, at The Line in Washington, DC, Smith has been given free reign and resources to unleash his inner Carthusian magician creative force: He's developed more than 100 botanical extracts using countless plants, herbs and roots, crafting everything from amari and vermouth to more esoteric pursuits like an incredibly peated fernet.
But Green Dream is a passion project he's been working on for years. “I think we've pretty much recreated the traditional charm of Green Chartreuse,” he says, describing the initial sweet herbal notes, mint and citrus notes, a rich mouth-filling flavor, and a long, lingering finish with a base of green and earthy notes. “Overall, it's a little fresher and fruitier than the Classic, which I'm all for,” he says.
To achieve this result, Smith used to infuse syrup, a process similar to that used to make limoncello, but today he follows a method he learned with the help of Darcy O'Neill called “modification.” Repair the pump A 2010 book detailing the golden age of soda fountains with hundreds of recipes.. Corrections are standardized extraction systems that allow for tweaks and scales while still maintaining consistency. For example, if Smith makes a tincture by adding 10 grams of cinnamon bark to 100 milliliters of high-strength spirits, the end result will be less than the original amount as the cinnamon is removed and absorbed. Following this technique, Smith uses the original liquid to “correct” the amount to the original 100 milliliters. “This flexibility allows me to easily make everything from a 100-milliliter test sample to a 1,000-liter batch using the same ingredients,” says Smith.
For Green Dream, Smith currently produces three spiritual herbal concentrates. The higher alcohol concentrate is infused with more than 15 botanicals, including lemon balm, peppermint and sweet fennel, which Smith says “produce the brighter, fresher and most concentrated aromas.” Meanwhile, the lower alcohol whole botanical elixir is infused with more than 50 ingredients, including angelica, coriander, arnica flower and balm of Gilead, for a fusion of bitter, savory, earthy and herbal notes. Smith doesn't add sugar, instead using the subtle sweetness of several aromatic substances, including wintergreen, orange and fennel. The third concentrate, Smith says, is a secret and gives the liqueur its color. “By manipulating the botanical blend to accentuate certain colors and textures, perhaps we achieve the elevation from a technical to an artistic activity,” Smith says. These mysterious ingredients give the liqueur its enchanting fairy green color.
“I'd like to say that I'm using a rotary evaporator and an ultrasonic machine to make my dreams come true, but Darcy Repair the pump“I think we haven't evolved much since 19th century pharmacists were using medicine-making techniques to mix flavorings for soda fountains. That's just how it is, and how long it takes,” Smith said.
Ultimately, no high-tech solutions are needed, which is fitting. The monks aren't using high-tech, Smith points out. “I take solace in knowing that the green magic that has captivated people around the world for the past 400 years is also made with simple tools.”