Make mine a Jager! (Jagermeister)

Member Name: Leon_W

Product:	Jagermeister
Date:	25/09/08 (232 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent alternative to your everyday spirit

Disadvantages: Abit of an aquired taste due to it's unique ingredients

Jagermeister is a liqueur made from 56 different herbs, fruits and barks, from ginger roots to saffron. Mixed to perfection, with distilled rum and an unknown secret ingredient in it's distillery in Wolfenbuttel, Germany.

Curt Mast first developed this herb liqueur in 1934, safeguarding it's unique recipe until in the following year, 1935 the brand of Jagermeister was launched to the public in it's homeland of Germany.
The brand continued to be a familiar household name in Germany, often contributing to the German Football League as advertisers.
It wasn't until 1964 that Jagermeister started to be exported to different countries, The Netherlands being the first of many to embrace Germany's best kept secret.
Italy followed suit two years later in 1966 and the Austria in 1967, the drink's popularity in Italy is so big that the company claim that this country is only second to America in terms of sales in the international market.
In 1971 the drink hit the stores of the USA, and opened up a wealth of oppotunities for the company, with more money, high budget ad campaigns where the order of the day to introduce this brand to the american drinks consumer.
1975 saw the first exports to Namibia, so now the drink had hit it's 4th continent and the brand was growing to be a success.

During the early 90's the drink made it's way in millions to such countries as Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia.
Later in the decade Jager would be a familiar fixture in the bar's of China and most recently in 2003 Mexico had embraced the cult liqueur.



Ok, so there was a little bit of history about Jagermeister, now lets move onto the taste.
Jagermeister has 35% alcohol volume, so as you would imagine with most liqueurs and spirits of this strenghth, the taste of this maybe little to overpowering, but with Jager that couldn't be further from the truth.
It seems to have a very natural taste, the expected overpowering alcohol blast that normally comes with such a drink, is replaced by a refreshing cinnamon type flavour. The viscosity of Jagermeister is also remeniscent of a childs cough syrup, which for some may seem a little off putting, but for me adds a distinctiveness to the overall drinking experience.
After going through the process of maceration the drink is then stored in large oak casks before bottling, which also adds to the depth of taste.

To get the full Jagermeister experience, it's best to serve cold if your planning on drinking it straight without a mixer.
Although nothing at all is detracted from it's charm if served at room temperature. This is just a preferance of mine.
There are countless combinations of mixers you can use, and a fair collection of them can be found on the Jagermeister official website.
My personal favourite is the 'Jager Bomb', and here's how you do it.

.Fill a normal sized shot glass with Jagermeister

.Place the shot glass into a beaker

.Then fill the beaker with Red Bull, pouring just enough to cover the shot inside the glass.

.Down this in one

The effects and taste of this are really nice. The drunk feeling you get from this drink doesnt provoke the all to common, aggressive nature of your average sprits drinker, this high feels almost like a 'knockout' to your senses and makes your eyes feel heavy and your body feel really weak. Nice for relaxing with in small doses.

I have heard rumours that Jagermeister's chemical compound is very similar to that of THC, the chemical found in cannabis.
Im not so sure about this, but it could be a good explanation for the drinks awesome ability to make you feel relaxed and chill you out.

Overall I think that Jagermeister is a quality product and deserves it's status as a leading brand of it's kind. In the UK, Ive seen it stocked in some bars, but most notably in the spirits section at ASDA, and you can pick up a bottle for around £17. This is a good price for such a rare drink in this country. There are also various websites you can order this from, so if you don't find it in the shops you won't be stuck for an alternative way of purchase.

Another thing which enthuses me about this product is it's loyal championing of the music scene, something which is very dear to me.
Jagermeister sponsors it's own music tour and has done since 2002, which is held bi annually in the US every spring and autumn. Holding host to some of top metal and punk bands, which furthers the drinks reptuation as a 'Cult' figure in today's youth culture.

Looking for a change from your normal tipple, then look no further than this. Love it or hate it, you've got to sample this at least once before your kidney's fail.

Summary: Wonderful...the only thing I drink past the 5% mark