JAGERMEISTER
Jägermeister is a strong, German liqueur served chilled to -18 C, and drunk as a shot or in a cocktail. It belongs to the category of bitters. Jägermeister consists of 56 plants, roots, and peels. Its recipe is secret, however, some ingredients are known, such as: licorice, star anise, cinnamon, orange peel, bitter orange, ginger root, galangal root, andrographis paniculata, cloves, mace, green cardamon, lavender, chamomile, hyssop, coriander, saffron, juniper, ginseng, and poppy seeds. The ingredients are infused and aged in oak barrels. The manufacturer claims that Jägermeister improves digestion.
Mast-Jägermeister SE is headquartered in the city of Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, Germany, on the bitters’ eponymous street — Jägermeisterstraße, 7-15.
Curt Mast created the recipe for the bitters in 1934. His father, Wilhelm, owned a vinegar production company that he founded in 1887, in Wolfenbüthell. In 1922, the company ceased vinegar production and entered the wine trade. Curt had helped his father in business since childhood, and, at the age of 37, became owner of the company. That same year, Curt finalized the recipe for an herbal liqueur for hunters that he had been working on for some time and gave it the name “Master of the Hunt.” He began producing his liqueur in 1935. Curt came up with a label featuring a deer with a luminous Christian cross placed between its antlers.
There is a legend that a deer with a cross between its antlers appeared to Count Hubert of Liège while hunting; amazed, he converted to Christianity and donated all his property to the Church. After his death he was recognized as a saint and became the patron saint of hunters.
For quite some time, Curt Mast personally experimented to determine the best bottle for his drink by dropping them on an oak floor until he found the hardest glass. The dark green color of the bottle protects its contents from exposure to ultraviolet rays.
In the 20th century, the design of the label was updated, the appearance of the deer was altered, the numeral 56 was added, and Curt Mast’s signature appeared on the cork.
Starting in the 1960s, the company began to supply Jägermeister to Austria, Scandinavia, and the Benelux countries. Later it was introduced in the USA. Its successful US sales were ensured by the American alcohol dealer Sidney Frank. In 1975, Frank signed a distribution agreement with Jägermeister and an advertising campaign to promote it was launched in the United States. Young women dressed in the bitters’ colors with the brand’s logo treated bar patrons to the liqueur, introducing them to the new drink. The liqueur was also promoted among college students. As a result of Frank’s promotional campaign, the popularity of Jägermeister in the United States increased significantly.
Some interesting facts about Jägermeister: In the Czech Republic, it has overtaken the vodka and local bitters market. The Jägermeister label is framed by lines from the poem “Waidmannsheil” (“Good Hunting!”) by the German writer (and forester) Oskar von Riesenthal, in which he calls for a responsible attitude towards hunting:
“This is the hunter’s badge of glory:
That he protects and tends his quarry,
Hunts with honor, as is due,
And through the beast to God is true.”
Production. The ingredients are crushed using special mills, macerated in an alcohol solution and steeped for a while. The infusion is matured for an entire year in oak barrels, diluted to the required strength, filtered, then mixed with alcohol, sugar concentrate, and softened water. The finished product is bottled at the factory.
