How long does it take to make Jägermeister? (The one you knock back in 1 second)

I think we can safely say that Jägermeister has its PR game pretty well sorted. How many brands can say they have been both a digestif in every grandad’s dark, solid-wood drinks cabinet and knocked back by the millions by sweaty crowds in pumping clubs? And if you’re one of those people who ‘knocks it back’, have you ever stopped to think how long it takes to make that remarkable stuff you pour down your throat in no time?

No sailing boat, ski backpack, but also no brown café (we’ll be back there one day, really), student bar or self-respecting rave seems able to do without it anymore. I’ve seen well-behaved dads on weekend getaways turn into unrestrained maniacs as soon as the word Jägerbomb was mentioned and the bottles were opened. What is it about this drink, and how is it made?

Spicy rather than sour

Jägermeister was conceived and brewed in the 1930s in Wolfenbüttel, Germany, by Curt Mast. At the time, Curt’s brother Wilhelm still co-owned the company with him, but he left Germany during the war and sold his shares. The family business was initially a vinegar brewery, by the way, but Curt had other plans for the factory and gradually replaced the production of vinegar with that of the herbal elixir containing 56 ingredients…

Nice and slow

To make the perfect batch, the master distillers first weigh all the dry ingredients in the herbal mixture (the exact recipe is, of course, extremely secret), then soak them for three days in a bath of water and alcohol. They are then filtered and stored in oak barrels for exactly one year. Next comes another filtration process, after which water, alcohol and sugars are added. Only then can it go into the characteristic green bottle and leave the factory—and in the meantime, reportedly, 383 quality checks have been carried out.

Watch it go down

And then, in many cases, a shot of this carefully crafted recipe is quickly knocked back in one go (often as a ‘submarine’ in a glass of lager, too). Although there are, of course, also the ‘slow’ appreciators, who sip it from a small glass after dinner or believe in its healing properties for a mild sore throat. But however—and whether—you enjoy it, moderation is always advisable, right…

Also read:

• 10x the grossest drink requests made to bar staff
• Masterful Jäger tea
• Know before you go: 12 German dishes and drinks that sound funnier than they taste