It’s just after 9pm in drizzly Belleville, Paris. Too late for cocktails, too early for bed, but up the steep hill between the 19th and 20th arrondissements, digestif hour is approaching. In recent years, more and more Parisians have been reaching for a glass of Chartreuse, an intensely green or yellow herbal liqueur with a folkloric history involving Carthusian monks, cholera, and a recipe shrouded in secrecy.
There are several types, varying in strength, colour, and price, but none are easy to find. At La Commune, a cult leftwing hangout in Belleville where tequila shots cost less than €4, they ran out of Chartreuse the night before. A few doors down at Les Triplettes de Belleville, I spot a third-full bottle of the cheaper yellow version tucked between the gins. Hugo Césard, the 19-year-old bartender, pours me a €7 shot—my third of the night. At first taste, it’s like ouzo: sweet, fennel-flavoured, cloyingly thick. Then the more complex notes emerge, closer to an Alpine meadow. This one is navy-strength at 40% ABV, while the green version is about 55%. In the Alps, you’re more likely to drink it in hot chocolate. Drinking it at room temperature is sacrilege, unless “you want to get very drunk,” says Césard. For me, unfortunately, that ship has already sailed.
Around the corner at Combat, an edgy-cool bar run by women and frequented by thoughtful students and dressed-up boomers, they mostly serve it cold in a crystal-cut sipping glass or in a cocktail called The Last Word, mixed with gin, lime, and a maraschino cherry. I try both. Combat bartender Marie-Paule Corby, 30, loves its “complicated flavour,” though outside, a customer named Nour (also 30) is not a fan. “I only ever drank it in the Alps. Too sweet for me,” she says, sticking out her tongue in disgust.
You’ll find Chartreuse in most well-stocked bars, but interest among younger drinkers surged mostly after the pandemic, says Theo, who works at La Cave Pigalle, a small chic wine shop in Pigalle in the 9th arrondissement. The same thing happened in the US, where it became a “sleeper” ingredient during the heady days of the craft cocktail movement in the early 2000s. Then came lockdown, and a taste for the weirder, top-shelf stuff grew even more, particularly here.
At the award-winning, taxidermy-filled bar Satan’s Whiskers in east London, it appears in various cocktails. The Pig on the Beach on Dorset’s Jurassic coast sells five different types, one of which—the Eau de Vie from 1941—costs £50 a measure. It’s always been pricey, though disaster struck in 2021 when the Carthusian monks suddenly announced plans to cap production in order to “protect their monastic life and devote their time to solitude and prayer.” In a letter in 2021, they said: “Making millions of cases does not make sense in today’s environmental context and will have a negative impact on the planet in the very short term,” though rumour has it the decree came from the Vatican, which pointedly reminded the monks “that they were monks, not businessmen.” Today, according to a spokesperson for Chartreuse, the brand is shifting its focus back toward herbalism.
Back in Paris, at the beloved bottle shop La Cave de Belleville, Chartreuse is scarce. “We have an allocation—24 bottles of green and 24 bottles of yellow, but that’s for a year,” says Remy Pousse-Vaillant, 46, a knowledgeable liquor expert with a Kandinsky tattoo. There are currently five on the shelf, but that’s it until the next order. Under French consumer law, any item displayedIf it has a visible price, it’s considered sellable, which is partly why some cellars hide the good stuff in the basement. The brand won’t share the numbers, only saying they keep half and export half to the US, Japan, Australia, and “countries around the Alpine arc.” They only make what they need to fill orders, though Pousse-Vaillant estimates it’s not much over 1 million bottles worldwide. Like most wine shop staff, he won’t confirm or deny whether he has Chartreuse in the basement.
Chartreuse is popular at places like Les Triplettes de Belleville in Paris. Photograph: Magali Deporte/The Guardian
Still, if we’ve learned anything from Birkin economics, it’s that few things sharpen our appetite like the prospect of scarcity. Is that why Chartreuse is back on the map? “Yes, partly,” he says. The drinks that creep onto cocktail menus – espresso martinis, negronis, cosmos – “used to come from TV shows like Mad Men or Sex and the City.” Now it’s aggressive advertising campaigns carefully engineered by savvy publicists. Take Campari, which turned Aperol into a global aesthetic, and M&S’s Clemencello, which the supermarket says will be the most in-demand drink this Christmas, even though most of us have never heard of it. Chartreuse has a much lower profile. I only know about it because Jay Gatsby kept it in his secret cocktail cabinet – and from Bruce Springsteen’s memoir, in which he reveals he got hooked on it when he first started drinking. Tom Waits is also a fan.
The story of Chartreuse really began in 1605, when the Carthusian monks – herbalists, scholars, and expert alcohol distillers – were entrusted with the recipe by Duke François Annibal d’Estrées. His manuscript outlined a 130-ingredient “elixir of long life” containing plants, barks, spices, and roots, and it took the monks over a century to decipher it. Eventually they arrived at what they call the “élixir végétal,” the base of today’s Chartreuse. The monks kept developing the elixir while also trying to create a liqueur that was easier to drink. The first version, created in 1838, was white, but green and yellow variations followed in 1840 – the green more herbal in taste, the yellow sweeter. The green “health elixir” version was even given to cholera patients – while it clearly wouldn’t have treated the disease, it may have provided some pain relief.
Bottles of yellow and green Chartreuse in the bottle shop La Cave de Belleville in Paris. Photograph: Magali Deporte/The Guardian
Today, only three people in the world know the recipe, and they’re all monks. It’s thought that the original two monks only shared the recipe with the third because one of them was considering retiring. They are helped in the distillery by five lay people, who are also anonymous.
It’s a fine story, and as social media worms its way into everything we eat or drink, perhaps it was only a matter of time before it landed on Chartreuse. The majestic labels, the photogenic shade of “grellow,” the mythological origins – and now the sheer scarcity of the stuff. It all feels perfectly suited to the trend-fatigued in 2026, says Pousse-Vaillant. “In this era of AI, of Meta, and of constantly being online, I think people want something real, something authentic, something unchanged.” And the brand agrees. “As the monks say: ‘the cross stands firm while the world turns,'” a Chartreuse spokesperson said. “It is a good motto because the world is difficult right now. So what else can we do?”
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQs Chartreuse The Elixir of Long Life
1 What exactly is Chartreuse
Its a French herbal liqueur made by Carthusian monks since 1737 It comes in two main versions Green Chartreuse and Yellow Chartreuse
2 Why is it called an elixir of long life
The original recipe was created as a medicinal tonic an Elixir of Long Life believed to promote health and vitality Monks still make it using the same secret formula today
3 Whats in it
Around 130 herbs plants flowers and roots The exact recipe is a closely guarded secret only two monks know it at any given time
4 What does it taste like
Green Chartreuse is bold herbal and spicy with a strong alcoholic kick Yellow is sweeter smoother and more floral Both have a distinctive anise and herb flavor
5 Why is it suddenly so popular
A mix of factors viral cocktails on social media its scarcity its secret monk mystique and a broader interest in herbal bitter and vintagestyle drinks
6 Is Chartreuse really hard to find
Sometimes The monks deliberately limit production to focus on their monastic life so supply doesnt always meet demand especially for Green Chartreuse
7 How should I drink it for the first time
Try it icecold as a shot or in a cocktail like the Last Word or a Green Ghost Sipping it neat at room temperature can be intense for beginners
8 Whats the difference between Green and Yellow
Green is higher in alcohol more herbal and more intense Yellow is sweeter lower in proof and easier to sip Green is better for bold cocktails Yellow works in lighter sweeter drinks
9 What are some classic Chartreuse cocktails
The Last Word the Bijou and the Swampwater
10 Does it actually make you live longer
No scientific evidence supports that Its a
