Chartreuse is an ancient, elusive elixir that has been made for centuries by French monks. Throughout its history, it has been a digestif, a popular cocktail ingredient, and the inspiration for naming a color between yellow and green. In recent years, demand for Chartreuse has grown beyond supply, and this herbal liqueur has perhaps never been more popular.
Chartreuse is among the oldest name brands of bitters, a category of aromatic flavoring concoctions made by infusing botanicals—including herbs, flowers, roots, and spices—in alcohol. Chartreuse, in both green and yellow versions, is produced in the Chartreuse Mountains, in southeastern France, near the Italian border, where the monastic Order of Carthusians has been based since 1084 (the head monastery is called the Grande-Chartreuse). The order believes in solitude, community, and self-sufficiency, and its members are required to find means of subsistence in their immediate environment. In addition to livestock breeding, fish farming, forest foraging, and even blacksmithing, that requirement eventually led to the creation of the grand elixir now known as Chartreuse.
In 1257, the order founded a second monastery, on the outskirts of Paris. Chartreuse Paris-Vauvert remains today as a historic monument, museum, and bar. In Paris, the Carthusians met the doctor and theologian Arnaud de Villeneuve and his student Raimond Lulle, who were known for their work with medicinal plants. Centuries later, in 1605, the alchemist François-Annibal d’Estrées gave the Carthusian monks of Paris a formula for a brew of herbs, spices, and flowers, promised as an elixir for long life. It took another century for one of the monks to bring the manuscript to the Grande-Chartreuse, where the monks mastered production of the spirit in 1764, first selling it locally to raise money for the order.
Throughout history, the Carthusians evaded every attempt to appropriate the sacred recipe through their tradition of silence, which prevented them from speaking of the secret ingredients. And they are secret to an extreme. Mark Bitterman, in Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters and Amari, writes, “The 130 ingredients said to make up Chartreuse are known only to two people (at a time).”
Green Chartreuse is stark emerald green in color and intensely aromatic, with flavors of lime, anise, and mint. The 86-proof yellow version, originated the same way as the green, though with different production methods, is sweeter and milder. Originally a digestif, over time, Chartreuse became a versatile ingredient in myriad cocktails—becoming so popularized that it appears as a character in the books of F. Scott Fitzgerald, Evelyn Waugh, and John Steinbeck, and is also found in many films and songs. The Tom Waits song “’Til the Money Runs Out” is one of them: “With a pint of green Chartreuse ain’t nothin’ seems right / You buy the Sunday paper on a Saturday night.”
While the origins of Chartreuse are somewhat unclear, its establishment as a commercial product can be traced to the end of the 18th century, when bottles were delivered by the brothers to markets in Grenoble and Chambéry.
The French Revolution disturbed its momentum, with the state expelling the monks from the Grande-Chartreuse, Vauvert, and all the monasteries in France in 1792. By royal decree, in 1816, they were authorized to return to the monastery and allowed to produce Chartreuse again, from a practical recipe transcribed from a passed-down manuscript. Like many other bitters, Chartreuse was believed to have medicinal virtues, and it was used to fight a cholera epidemic in 1832.
By 1835, the monks recovered the original manuscript and adjusted its elixir of health to create a liqueur. By 1840, both yellow and green Chartreuse had been developed, the sales of which would become the main income source for the monastery that year, increasing tenfold the next year.
By 1901, however, there was an anticlerical attack on religion in France, and the Carthusians were yet again under threat. They moved to Spain and established a distillery in Tarragona, beginning production there in 1904. In 1921, they set up another new distillery, in Marseille, France, and began marketing and advertising Chartreuse to a new generation. But tragedy struck again, this time in Tarragona, when the distillery was bombed in 1938 during the Spanish Civil War.
In June 1940, the monks returned to the monastery, closing the distillery in Marseille. By the end of World War II, in 1945, normalcy was being reestablished in France. A new label and image of the brand were developed in 1950, a sign of renewal. During the 1960s, Chartreuse VEP (Vieillissement Exceptionnellement Prolongé, or Exceptionally Prolonged Aging) was introduced, and the cellars in Voiron were expanded. The Chartreuse Diffusion company was established in 1970 to sell and advertise Chartreuse.
Alas, by the early 1980s, Chartreuse was falling out of favor in the United States and across Europe, including in France. It would take another decade or so for Chartreuse to regain its status with cocktail enthusiasts the world over.
When Chartreuse began to grow in popularity, it quickly reached new heights. First, during the craft cocktail movement of the early 2000s, Chartreuse became a favorite of bartenders, who loved its dual sense of history and mystery as much as its bittersweet notes of anise, tarragon, and fennel. Then, Covid-19 turned everyday drinkers into busy at-home bartenders. During that time, sales of Chartreuse in the United States doubled, a pattern that held true worldwide, according to the New York Times. Global sales topped US$30 million in 2022.
On January 16, 2023, the monks sent a letter to their key accounts in which they state how, in 2021, “the decision was made from the Carthusian monks not to increase their volumes of production for the Chartreuse liqueurs. They are limiting production to focus on their primary goal: protect their monastic life and devote their time to solitude and prayer.”
It continued to say that “making millions of cases does not make any sense in today’s environmental context and will have a negative impact on the planet in the very short term. . . . Basically, we look to do less but better and for longer.”
From that point on, all markets, including in France, were put under allocation, with the monks seeking to fulfill the needs of their domestic market as much as possible while maintaining a presence in the rest of the world. Production was set at 1.6 million bottles annually, the highest since the late 1800s, with the United States “limited to 90 percent of its 2021 volume.”
Thus, the current Chartreuse shortage began, with some stores limiting purchases to one bottle per customer—if they can even stock it in the first place. Frederick Wildman, a New York–based importer of fine wine and spirits, is the only US importer of Chartreuse.
The presence of Chartreuse at auctions has increased because of this demand, bringing in huge amounts of money. Baghera/wines, a European rare wine auction house, hosted the auction “Once upon a Time . . . Chartreuse” in Geneva, Switzerland, over three days in 2023. It was the largest Chartreuse auction in history, featuring 648 total lots. The highest selling was two bottles of long-aged Chartreuse VEP, one yellow and one green, distilled in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and bottled in 1966. It went for US$36,561.
In a press release, Michael Ganne and Julie Carpentier, the founders of Baghera/wines, said, “Knowledge is increasing, and the treasure hunt has begun. . . . As is often the case, the trend is launched by a few enthusiasts and word spreads.”
The Carthusian monks make three primary products at their Chartreuse distillery in Aiguenoire, Entre-Deux-Guiers:
Chartreuse Verte (Green Chartreuse): Green Chartreuse, the first liqueur made in 1840 from the original recipe, was officially named Chartreuse Verte in 1852, and the mark Chartreuse was registered at that time as well. At 110 proof, it is made from 130 plants, flowers, bark, roots, and spices, with natural coloring imparted by a long maceration of the active ingredients. The spirit is aged in truncated, cone-shaped oak vats. Tasting notes include a powerful, herbaceous, peppery nose; a fresh palate of mint, pine sap, and citrus fruits; and a taste of bittersweet tea that lengthens the finish.
Chartreuse Jaune (Yellow Chartreuse): Created in 1840, also from the original recipe, Chartreuse Jaune is bottled at 86 proof. Characterized by a touch of sweetness, spicy aromas, and an intense yellow color, it is also made using 130 ingredients, though the production is “significantly different” from green Chartreuse, according to Chartreuse Diffusion. Aging also takes place in truncated, cone-shaped oak vats. Tasting notes include scents of turmeric, citrus, and anise, with floral aromatics and a soft structure.
Elixir Végétal de la Grande-Chartreuse (Plant Elixir of the Grande-Chartreuse): Sold in a small, 100-milliliter bottle encased in wood, to protect it from light, this concentrated bottling is based on the 1764 spirit that was distributed to locals during the cholera crisis of 1832. The recipe has remained unchanged since then: a mix of alcohol, sugar, water, and 130 plants, flowers, spices, bark, roots, and berries. It is bottled at 138 proof, and its production includes a three-stage process: distillation to bring out aromas, maceration to develop natural color, and extraction to encourage the flavors and “beneficial properties” of the ingredients. It is intended as an after-dinner drink or tonic, with serving recommendations such as enjoying it pure in a teaspoon, in an herbal tea, or as a toddy with honey and lemon; in a cup of water when one is under the weather or tired; or as a substitute for bitters in a cocktail for a pronounced herbal note.
In addition to these three spirits, there are many special cuvées, made by blending green and yellow Chartreuse. Liqueur du Foudre 147, for example, was made in 2019, the last aged in Voiron before production was moved to Aiguenoire. The bottle is embossed with the symbol of the Carthusian order and has a wooden label inscribed with the name. Liqueur of the 9th Centenary is another special cuvée, first created in 1984 to commemorate the 900th anniversary of the order’s founding.
There are also what the order refers to as exceptional cuvées, or Chartreuse VEP, first created in 1963. These spirits are aged in demi-muids (600-liter French oak barrels) for “exceptionally prolonged” periods of time. Rare and complex, both green and yellow versions have been made, and each bottle is numbered with its bottling vintage.
Chartreuse is used in many cocktails, none more famous than the Last Word, which first appeared in a 1951 book called Bottoms Up. Author Ted Saucier attributes the drink’s creation to a bartender at the Detroit Athletic Club.
In Chartreuse: The Holy Grail of Mixology, with Cocktail Recipes and Lore, Michael Turback writes that it was called the Last Word because it was typically the last drink of the evening. Calling it “a thinking person’s drink,” Turback adds that the drink faded into obscurity until the bartender Murray Stenson added it to the menu at Seattle’s Zig Zag Café in the 2000s, inspiring a new generation of fans, including fellow bartenders who put their own spins on it.
Stenson passed away in 2023, receiving an obituary in the New York Times, which says, “He was known, above all, for resurrecting a forgotten pre-Prohibition cocktail called the Last Word, made with equal parts gin, lime juice, Green Chartreuse and maraschino liqueur. He discovered it in a 1951 cocktail book and added it to his menu, and within a few years it had not only spread nationwide but had become the archetype for a whole genre of modern classic cocktails, like the Paper Plane and the Gin Blossom.”
Interestingly, the barman extraordinaire Dale DeGroff notes in his 2020 book, The New Craft of the Cocktail, that when he was preparing the first cocktail menu for New York’s Rainbow Room, in 1987, he passed over adding the Last Word, as he already had too many gin-based drinks.
A Chartreuse drink that appears to have fallen into obscurity is the Swampwater, which hit its peak of popularity in the 1970s and early 1980s. It was a blend of green Chartreuse, pineapple juice, and lime served over ice. Advertisements at the time touted that Chartreuse was 110 proof and stated, “For party-givers, one bottle of Green Chartreuse makes one gallon of Swampwater.”
Phil Ward, a bartender in New York, is among those who have put their own spin on the Last Word, creating the Final Ward, replacing the Last Word’s gin with rye and lime juice with lemon juice (thus combining equal parts rye, green Chartreuse, lemon juice, and maraschino liqueur, with a garnish of maraschino cherry).
The Bijou is credited to Harry Johnson, who is thought to have named it after the French word for “jewel,” combining equal parts gin, green Chartreuse, and sweet vermouth with a dash of orange bitters and lemon peel. The colors of the main ingredients represent the colors of such precious stones as diamonds, emeralds, and rubies. Johnson’s first Bartenders’ Manual was written in 1869. Once forgotten, the Bijou started reappearing on bar menus in the 1980s.
The Naked and Famous is made with equal parts mezcal, yellow Chartreuse, Aperol, and fresh lime juice. It is a deconstruction of the Last Word and was developed by Joaquín Simó, a partner at Alchemy Consulting (and who was part of the opening staff of New York’s Death & Co), who describes it as “the bastard child born out of an illicit Oaxacan love affair between the classic Last Word and the Paper Plane.”
The Tom Waits song “’Til the Money Runs Out” inspired a drink called Waits and Measures, made by Portland’s Rum Club, essentially a riff on the Bijou with a toddy twist, combining two types of rums with yellow Chartreuse and boiling water.
It is possible to immerse oneself further into all things Chartreuse via a visit to one of two places in France. The first is the Caves de la Chartreuse in Voiron, a town north of Grenoble (near Aiguenoire, where the production distillery is located), which offers daily guided tours in English. The visit may be extended by visiting the Chartreuse Cocktail Bar on-site. The author Jason Wilson recounted his 2009 visit to the Voiron site in Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits. He writes, “On my tour of the ‘longest liqueur cellar in the world’ I was assured that the monks still keep a close eye on the process. But most questions went unanswered. How long does Chartreuse age in the barrels? ‘We don’t know. The monks decide when they’re ready.’ Are there really 130 ingredients? ‘We suppose, but we have no way of knowing for sure.’”
The other option is in Paris. Chartreuse Paris-Vauvert, on the Boulevard Saint-Germain, is both a museum and bar. In addition to indoor and outdoor guided tours, available in English, it offers visitors a cocktail workshop and tasting workshop daily by reservation.
The Chartreuse monks inaugurated the Aiguenoire distillery in 2018, in the heart of the Chartreuse Mountains, to, as they describe, meet the demands of a new millennium. But with recent production limits, it is unclear how the monks will adjust production in the coming years. Regardless, Chartreuse remains one of the oldest and most mysterious spirits in the world and an essential part of many popular cocktails. When it can be found, Chartreuse is worthy of inclusion on a modern spirits or cocktail list and on the curious drinker’s bar cart.
Bitterman, Mark. Bitterman’s Field Guide to Bitters and Amari. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2015.
Cooper, Becky. “Why Is Chartreuse Hard to Find Right Now? Ask the Monks Who Make It.” New York Times, April 14, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/14/dining/drinks/chartreuse-shortage.html.
DeGroff, Dale. The New Craft of the Cocktail. Clarkson Potter, 2020.
Getgen, Candie. “Will Chartreuse Be Harder to Find? Monks behind Popular Herbal Liqueur Decide to Limit Production to Focus on ‘Solitude and Prayer.’” Bottle Raiders, March 2, 2023. https://bottleraiders.com/article/green-chartreuse-liqueur-monk-decision-2/.
Lebovitz, David. “Swampwater.” David Lebovitz, May 12, 2020. https://www.davidlebovitz.com/swamp-water-chartreuse-pineapple-juice-recipe/.
Parsons, Brad Thomas. Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All. Ten Speed Press, 2011.
Risen, Clay. “Murray Stenson, Unassuming Leader of a Cocktail Renaissance, Dies at 74.” New York Times, October 6, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/06/dining/murray-stenson-dead.html.
Turback, Michael. Chartreuse: The Holy Grail of Mixology, with Cocktail Recipes and Lore. Farm Fresh Books, 2017.
Waits, Tom. “’Til the Money Runs Out.” Heartattack and Vine, 1980.
Wilson, Jason. Boozehound: On the Trail of the Rare, the Obscure, and the Overrated in Spirits. Ten Speed Press, 2010.
Zigoris, Julie. “A Rare, Neon Green Elixir Flows Freely at This San Francisco Restaurant.” San Francisco Standard, October 31, 2023. https://sfstandard.com/2023/10/31/san-francisco-chartreuse-shortage-morris-restaurant/.
Virginie... excellent article. Thank you!