The preparation of the Herbal Elixir requires several weeks and is done in three stages: distillation to obtain the aroma, maceration which gives the natural color and extraction which makes it possible to collect the beneficial properties of the 130 plants, flowers, bark, roots and spices that compose it. Its virtues lie primarily in the use of plants in their natural state.

In 1605, the Duke of Estrees entrusted the Carthusians with a manuscript bearing a mysterious recipe made up of 130 plants that could give rise to an "Elixir of long life". For more than a century and a half, the Carthusians will develop this recipe which will give birth, thanks in particular to Brother Jrme Maubec, to a final product fixed in 1764 called "Plant Elixir of the Grande Chartreuse". It was quickly distributed as a care product to local populations, especially during the cholera crisis of 1832. Brother Charles was the first to market it in local markets, descending on a donkey from the monastery. Since 1764, the recipe for the Elixir has remained unchanged.

It is a cordial, a digestive and a very effective tonic:
- Pure in a teaspoon
- In herbal tea or hot toddy with honey and lemon
- A few drops on a piece of sugar, on a meringue
- In a cup of water in case of fatigue, discomfort or indisposition
- A few drops in a cocktail to bring a herbaceous note

THE MARTINI OF LONG LIFE
2oz of Gin
1oz Dry Vermouth 3-4 Dashes of Vgtal
Pour all Ingredients into a mixing vessel, stir until chilled, strain into a Coupe or Martini glass. Garnish with a mint leaf or lemon twist.

ENHANCED LAST WORD
.75 oz Gin
.75 oz Green Chartreuse
.75 oz Maraschino Liqueur .75 oz fresh lime juice
4 Dashes of Vgtal
Pour all Ingredients into a Shaker tin, shake until chilled, strain into a Coupe or Martini glass

FRENCH OLD-FASHIONED
2oz Rye Whiskey
1 Demerara sugar cube
4 Dashes of Vgtal Garnish with an orange twist
Place the sugar cube into a Rock glass, add a dash of water then muddle cube, pour in other ingredients, add ice and stir until cold.
Express the orange peel into glass, then place the peel in the drink

About Chartreuse

The Order of Chartreuse was more than 500 years old when, in 1605, at a Chartreuse monastery in Vauvert, a small suburb of Paris, the monks received a gift from François Hannibal d' Estrées, Marshal of French King Henri IV's artillery: an already ancient manuscript from an "Elixir" soon to be nicknamed "Elixir of Long Life". This hand-written document was probably the work of a 16th century alchemist with a great knowledge of herbs and who possessed the skill to blend, infuse, macerate the 130 of them to form a perfect balanced tonic. It was this elixir that was destined to become the world-famous Chartreuse liqueur, but it would take more than a century before the alchemist's recipe to reach a definitive formula.

By the early 17th century, only a few monks and even fewer apothecaries understood the use of herbs and plants in the treatment of illness. The manuscript's recipe was so complex that only bits and pieces of it were understood and used at Vauvert. Then, at the beginning of the 18th century, the manuscript was sent to the Mother House of the Order--La Grande Chartreuse--in the mountains not far from Grenoble. Here an exhaustive study of the manuscript was undertaken. The Monastery's Apothecary, Frère Jerome Maubec, finally unraveled the mystery and, in 1737, drew up the practical formula for the preparation of the Elixir.

The distribution and sales of this new medicine were limited at first. One of the monks of La Grande Chartreuse, Frère Charles, would load his mule with the small bottles that he sold in Grenoble and other nearby villages. Ever since, this "Elixir of Long Life" is made only by the Chartreuse monks following that ancient recipe, and is called Elixir Vegetal de la Grande-Chartreuse. This "liqueur of health" is all natural plants, herbs and other botanicals suspended in wine alcohol--69% alcohol by volume, 138 proof.

To maintain the elixir's historic secrecy, the formula is known only in part and only to three monks so that no single person is in possession of the entire recipe. Today Chartreuse liqueur has become a cult classic.

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