It was a memo that shook the spirits world: In January 2023, the Carthusian monks who produce Chartreuse at their monastery high in the French Alps announced they’d leveled off production of the iconic herbal liqueur—which comes in green and yellow varieties—in favor of prayer, contemplation and sustainability. Calling it a “strategic decision,” the monks said they’d double down on their core European market, with allocations for everyone else.
For a drinking public that had fallen hard for green Chartreuse during the pandemic—sales doubled during that period, to $30 million in 2022—the announcement stirred passions across Twitter. “The chartreuse monks sent this out and I’m losing my mind,” wrote one user. Some bartenders have already noticed the Chartreuse squeeze.
“Chartreuse has been very, very hard to get,” says Michell Boyd, bar manager for the Atlanta gastropub Hampton + Hudson. “I haven’t been able to find any in six to eight months.”
Fortunately for Boyd, another botanical spirit has been patiently waiting in the wings for its moment: génépy, an Alpine liqueur with a similar but beguilingly unique flavor profile. “I just fell in love with it,” says Boyd, who first began using génépy to make daiquiris. “It has a similar flavor profile but is a lot more approachable.”
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What Is Génépy?
Génépy is a pale, slightly sweet spirit made from rare Alpine varieties of artemisia, a species of petite flowering plants and shrubs. These include wormwood,
This Article was originally published on Wine Enthusiast
