The ‘elixir of long life’: how the elusive Chartreuse quietly became the trendiest drink around

With its garish ‘grellow’ colour, mythological origins, secret recipe and limited supplies, the herbal liqueur made by French monks is now the coolest thing to order at the bar

It’s just after 9pm in drizzly Belleville, Paris. Too late for cocktails, too early for bedtime, but up the steep hill that straddles the 19th and 20th arrondissements, digestif hour is in sight.

In the past few years, more and more Parisians have been reaching for a glass of Chartreuse, an intensely green/yellow herbal liqueur with a folkloric backstory involving Carthusian monks, cholera and a recipe of omertà-like secrecy.

There are several types, of varying strengths, colours and prices, but none are that easy to find. At La Commune, a cultish leftwing hangout in Belleville, where tequila shots cost less than €4, they finished the Chartreuse the night before. A few doors down at Les Triplettes de Belleville, I spot a third-full bottle of the cheaper yellow stuff sandwiched between the gins. Hugo Césard, the 19-year-old bartender, pours me a €7 shot, my third of the night. On first taste, it behaves like ouzo: sweet, fennelly, cloyingly thick. Then you hit the more complex notes, which are closer to an Alpine meadow. This one is a navy-strength 40% ABV, while the green version is about 55%. In theAlps, you’re more likely to drink it in hot chocolate. To down it at room temperature is sacrilege, unless “you want to get very drunk”, says Césard. For me, alas, that ship has already sailed.

Round 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 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 called Nour (also 30) is not a fan. “I only ever drank it in the Alps. Too sweet for me,” she says, and sticks out her tongue in disgust.