Testing Chartreuse alternatives! The Chartreuse APOCALYPSE is upon us

welcome back friends it's Anders today we are going to explore some substitutions for green chartreuse many of you know there is a shortage with chartreuse at the moment that's actually been going on for years but recently the carthusian monks who make this stuff have said they're going to be producing less of it I don't know why I think they said they want to focus on more like Monastery duties like like praying and and Xbox let me tell you what happened this past weekend I went into my local liquor store and there I saw a display with five bottles that said chartreuse Alternatives there was just that little sign and something about that sign made it ring true in my head that that this might be the last of my chartreuse for a long long while so this is happening I've got to accept that this shortage is going to remain short now I'm not the only person talking about this educated Barfly did a video on this recently Uncle Pete did a video this is the reality of it we have to embrace that chartreuse is special it will remain very special but uh not everybody's gonna be able to get their hands on it so here we are amen if you are new to the channel hit that subscribe button for more sips tips and recipes and let's go explore alternative chartreuse options for us all all right so here we are we've got our lineup I'm going to talk momentarily on chartreuse because we should know what it is we are looking for in these other bottles now chartreuse is an herbal liqueur in fact it is the oldest liqueur it is the original liqueur meaning sugar was added to the spirit which sweetens it up it also happens to be 55 alcohol 110 proof so it's flammable but part of the magic with chartreuse is that because of the sugar and everything it doesn't taste as hot as it actually is it's made with 130 herbs and plants technically it is considered an Alpine liqueur meaning it was created in and around the Alps and there are a number of different Alpine liqueurs but there are also a number of different countries that call the Alps home so there are different Alpine liqueur Styles so you can't just haphazardly grab another Alpine liqueur and say this is going to be a perfect substitution for chartreuse it doesn't work that way but that's why we have all these other herbal liqueurs made from all over the world world that we can try we have two kinds of chartreuse we have green chartreuse and yellow chartreuse today we are focusing on the green chartreuse and we're not even going to talk about the vep that's something that I'll probably never ever see again on top of all of this it's a highly secretive recipe that dates back to 1605 so these monks have been making this stuff for centuries they deserve a break because it's so secretive in fact I think only two or three people actually know the recipe it's like three monks and that's it but because of this obviously it's difficult to replicate okay so let's get this show on the road that's enough about chartreuse let's focus on its substitutes potential substitutes I am going to butcher these names because they're from all different areas for our lineup we're going to start with the green chartreuse as our North Star and then for the alternative options we have Dolan genapi Le Chamois Elixir Spirits Iris liqueur bombsma clericomster cluster bitter Enrico Toro torella DJ Steve and chanterbe faccia Bruto huh that's the best that's the best I can do let's go ahead and uh fire these up oh geez ooh a bottle design I really don't know what any of these taste like I've tasted this one before years ago but it's as if I'm going in blind I have no preference we're gonna start from my right your left starting with again the North Star our North Star green chartreuse it's a really pale green uh this color is chartreuse actually because of the sugar content it's clinging to the edge it's a really pretty nose cheers give me a moment this will be one of my last sips of green chartreuse what I love about green chartreuse it is hot because it's 55 alcohol by volume but because of the sweetness it doesn't feel like you're drinking fire water and it's it's all of these herbs and plants and it's almost its own flavor maybe a slight bitterness on the end but it's more sweet kind of minty there's some some Piney notes yeah definitely like a numbing licorice uh thing happening on my tongue it's really difficult to pinpoint one flavor in chartreuse there's just so much going on so it's a lot to live up to and I need water if you plan to do this have some water also because of the sugar content it has some weight so you can use it as a syrup in your cocktails and it gives it a nice mouth feel nice texture all right so moving on to the first substitute this would be the Dolan genapi Le Chamois this comes in at 45 alcohol so a little less boozy and considerably less expensive I I paid 33 dollars for this bottle the chartreuse of regular 750 I have no idea what they'd be going for now if you could find it but I would expect back in the day to spend 65 70 for a bottle here in Chicago more of a light yellow it does stick to the edge of the glass like the chartreuse but I do think it looks a little bit thinner we'll see really soft on the nose really delicate it is floral I get a fruit on it I had like a stone fruit it's really delicious I have to say that is really tasty it is not chartreuse less herbal I think that the chartreuse has more herbs it's very good it's also sweet light more delicate that's what I would say perfumey which chartreuse can be perfumey as well I do notice that it is less alcoholic I mean you certainly get a little bit of heat but it's nothing like the chartreuse is it comparable I would say Yes actually I do think the chartreuse is a stronger flavor but the genopee is really pretty I like it on its own I think it'd be great with a little soda water on the Rocks maybe a Twist of lemon onto the next this next one was made in the states in Oregon Elixir Spirits Iris liqueur 35 ABV I paid 35 dollars one dollar for each percent uh looking at the color it's actually really similar to the genopee let's go in for a taste shall we well hmm nothing like chartreuse nothing it is uh again perfumey different perfumey though it's floral there's a a fruity flower smell to it it's not clinging to the glass the way chartreuse does cheers go let that train pass honest opinion it's not for me it might be for you uh but I don't think this is necessarily a candidate to replace green chartreuse it's a very floral and very perfumey sweeter than I anticipated I want more herbs I want more I want more more field you know what I mean what I'm saying there I want more more Roots it's just it's it's in in it's a different category a fine product onto the Ecto Cooler boomsma Clark compster Closter bitter I that's probably pretty close look at this okay we need like a white background or something here does that help the color of uh Slimer in Ghostbusters by the way this bottle poured terribly but I've decided not to have any bias based on bottle design it does look like it's got a good amount of sugar give it a the old sniff test I'm very curious I kind of like that I would say that's probably the closest to chartreuse yet and it's not that it tastes of chartreuse but chartreuse does this other magical thing where you take a sip and then it's like an explosion in your sinuses and in your headspace where you know like whoa there are some sort of essential oils that the monks have put together and now I'm gonna Live extra long this kind of has that a little bit it's sweet 40 ABV all right you get some points back there I think it's numbing the side of my tongue which is a positive that's what I'm looking for I want that sort of thing oh get this this was the cheapest one of the lot this one was 28 17 herbs sounds like a lot but chartreuse uses 130 herbs so the fact that this is remotely comparable to green chartreuse with only 17 herbs is remarkable and one of those herbs is the color of well I don't know even know what that's the color of okay on to the next that was fun that was a good one this one is this guy oh this is the Enrico Toro torella DJ stief from Italy this one is a recipe that dates back to the early 1800s 100 herbs this one I actually before I tasted any of them I had the highest hopes for they do also make this one in a higher proof I think 70 that's really high uh I got the lower proof this one was is 38 alcohol 50 a bottle it's a very pale green it looks like it's less sweet than the Boom shma oh on the nose this is the closest to chartreuse hmm that's really good not like um chartreuse this would work I think as an alternative it's a bit more peppery maybe that's cinnamon spearmint there's the sweetness this vanilla Sweetness in a good way I'm not saying it's a bland sweetness it's like the actual flavor of vanilla I do think that this would work uh to replace the chartreuse that's pretty good A little heat it actually tastes like there's more alcohol in there than the 38 okay so that's a that's a winner worth fifty dollars well if you're gonna pave God knows how much on chartreuse then it's probably worth the fifty dollars ah man I I hope that I still have taste buds for this last one this last one very Italian name faccia Bruto chanterbe chanterbe that does not sound Italian when I say it but this one is made in New York and I have seen this one popping up everywhere you can't miss this bright green liqueur that um sits right where your bottle of chartreuse used to be at the liquor store 45 90 proof also fifty dollars a bottle I've seen a couple other people on YouTube rate this highly so I was pretty excited I felt like I should grab it and uh the color is it almost looks like it's a not an organic green it has almost a blue tinge to it but I looked online on the website they said they add in some herbs like parsley and tarragon at the last minute this one doesn't look quite as viscous okay there's no nose I smell ethanol chartreuse boom and this one's I this one out of all of them I smell the ethanol let's go in for a sip hmm interesting hot that one tastes the most alcoholic even though it's not the chartreuse has 10 more alcohol this is the thinnest of the batch I do get a number of herbs I can't put my finger on what they are it's all kind of tasting like this big homogenized herbal bomb right now and that's my fault because I decided to do this back to back but it's good it doesn't taste of chartreuse no yeah I do think it's lacking a bit of sugar to be considered a replacement for chartreuse now you could play around with that and add a little bit of simple syrup maybe that might solve your problem I do think it is interesting though it is uh it is unique I think now we need to see how these hold up in a cocktail the last word the last cocktail oh this better not be my last word last last word I I'm really trying to expand and accept all other herbal liqueurs but I'm going through a thing here guys okay so we are gonna make six last word cocktails couple reasons here number one there's Citrus involved so we can see how these liqueurs is hold up to the acid that is lime juice and there's also a second liqueur which is Maraschino liqueur and traditionally this is an all equal parts drink it's a good starting point so let's go ahead and start building these start with June and now the Maraschino liqueur fresh lime juice and finally the individual liqueurs now with three shakers in each hand shake up your six cocktails joking away we go 10 to 15 seconds nice and cold and that's how you get guns like these I've pooped traditionally we would put a cherry on the bottom of these glasses but for science sake for This research that we're doing here we don't need the cherry on the bottom all right now we get to taste them so once again my right your left starting with the green chartreuse the last word cheers balanced obviously a bright tartness from the lime juice the Maraschino liqueur has like this uh a subtle Cherry note to it it's kind of Dusty tasting there isn't one flavor that stands out over the others moving on the genopee that also works really good I am tasting more of the Maraschino liqueur in the jennifee version it's really hard to pick out the genopee because you're working with a dry gin that has strong Botanicals it is sweet enough so it's holding up to the Citrus I don't think you need to add any simple syrup so the question does it work yes it does in a cocktail I think this works I would still call this a last word on to the next Iris cheers ah kind of tastes like an aviation yeah I get Violet no that uh that one doesn't work for me it's still good but I would not call it a last word you put a few drops of like purple coloring in there and tell me that is an aviation and I might believe you for a moment it's very floral that's really it's kind of exciting but a last word it is not onto the Clark gunster cluster bitter my favorite one to say hmm it behaved differently is it sweet enough absolutely it almost tastes a little too sweet oh dear go back to the constant yeah no wow in the cocktail I I know that it's not chartreuse I would honestly say that Jenna P does a better job replacing the chartreuse in the cocktail than the boomsma this is why we do this you know this is why you have to mix it into a drink you don't know how it's going to behave until you try it onto the torella cheers oh that might be my favorite so far so this one it tastes like chartreuse but again there's that there's like a spice there's something warming about it that is not coming straight from alcohol I'm gonna come back and visit I need to get to the end of the line before I lose my mind on to the final faccha Bruto I kind of like the color in the cocktail cheers I do like it better in the cocktail than on its own it's it's like a dryer chartreuse but there yeah there is there's something there's something that's just a little bit different it's sharper for lack of a better term this is me being nitpicky though you know all right so there we are this is super interesting and kind of eye-opening in the five that we tasted obviously you're not gonna have an exact duplicate of green chartreuse but they are all good in their own right it depends on how you want to drink them if you were to have them neat personally I found that the boomsma from the Netherlands and the torella from Italy were the closest to the green chartreuse however that changed once I mixed them into a cocktail I would say for the last word and there are a number of different cocktails that call for green chartreuse so this video can keep going on and on and on with different drinks but for the last word I thought that the two that for me what scratched the itch were the genopee and the torella however I did also find that the faccia worked pretty well I'm not saying that any of these are better than the others it depends on what you like it depends on what you're looking for hope you enjoyed this I sure did the chartreuse shortage is not the end of the world is it a sad happening yes it is a little bit but the thing is life moves on thank you for watching like subscribe don't forget your merch Be Kind Rewind I will see you next time cheers [Music] [Applause]

Channel: Anders Erickson

Views: 142,660

Keywords: chartreuse alternatives, good liqueur options, best liqueur alternatives, green chartreuse, comparing liqueurs, alternative options liqueur, alternative options herbal, chartreuse substitutions, what is chartreuse, herbal liqueurs good, good liqueur herbal, good liqueur choices, good liqueur substitutions, good liqueur alternatives, no more chartreuse, good liqueur replacements, excellent liqueur alternatives, replacing liqueurs herbal, testing herbal liqueurs, chartreuse

Id: xsVdY6gJ7Gs

Length: 16min 53sec (1013 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 16 2023