Jägermeister: 11 facts about everyone's favourite après drink
Love it or hate it Jägermeister is a staple feature on almost all ski holidays, but where did that green-bottled party starter come from and why do us Brits adore its liquorice taste so much? Here's everything you need to know about about everyone's favourite après drink.
One Wilhelm Mast founded a wine vinegar business in his home town of Wolfenbüttel, Lower Saxony, in 1878 – but it wasn't until 1934 that his son Curt took the business in a different direction, creating Jägermeister as we know it today.
It's made up of 56 natural herbs and spices, including ginger, cardamom and star anise (as well as 35% alcohol), and was sometimes consumed as a digestif.
Jägermeister means huntmaster, or master of the hunt, a line of work that has existed in Germany for centuries.
Deer blood has long been rumoured to be a key ingredient in the drink's secret recipe. But don't get too excited – experts say blood would not brew properly. (It's not unicorn tears either. We checked.)
The German poem that runs around the edge of the label reads: “It is the hunter’s honour that he protects and preserves his game, hunts sportsmanlike, honours the creator in his creatures.” Quite.
The St Hubertus Stag on the label is a mythological beast that once appeared before a hunter, complete with the shining cross between its antlers, and converted him to Christianity. This was the same hunter who later became the patron saint of all hunters – Saint Hubertus.
Jägermeister has long been popular in ski resort bars, but here in the UK it has mainly caught on as a shot or “Jäegerbomb” with Red Bull – a trend Jägermeister is trying to move away from, wishing to brand itself as more of a sophisticated after-dinner drink, recently launching the world’s first super-premium herbal liqueur, Jägermeister Manifest.
It was only launched in the UK in 2005 – but by 2007 we were drinking 700,000 bottles, and now it's the second most popular spirits brand in Britain and is the most consumed spirit amongst 18-24 year olds.
In Germany it was originally nicknamed Göring-Schnapps after Hitler's number two, Hermann Göring, who became the Reichsjägermeister (Imperial Huntsmaster) in 1934.
As well as being popular with skiers and boarders, the drink has long had a strong association with heavy metal music – Jägermeister is the tour sponsor of numerous bands in this genre.
To protect the unique taste of Jägermeister, Curt Mast wanted a receptacle that could withstand being knocked about a bit. He tested hundreds of differently shaped bottles by dropping them from a great height on to an oak floor – today's Jägermeister bottle is the only one that survived the fall.
