drinkin

• Beer was perfected by medieval monks; they gave us modern brewing.
• One of the world’s finest champagnes was named after its inventor, Dom Pérignon, who was a Benedictine monk.
• The California wine industry began when Saint Junípero Serra and his Franciscan brethren brought the first wine grapes to that region.
• Chartreuse, the world’s most magical liqueur, was perfected by Carthusian monks and is still made by them. Only two monks at a time know the recipe! It is also the name of a color.

Created in 1840, the ‘Liqueur de Santé’ is the first liqueur made from the original recipe of the Elixir Végétal de la Grande Chartreuse.

It was so popular that Father Garnier, the attorney responsible for liqueurs at the time, later decided to officially name it ‘Chartreuse Verte’, and registered the “Chartreuse” mark in 1852.

It is still produced and manufactured today by the Chartreux Fathers in their Aiguenoire distillery in Entre-Deux-Guiers (Isère - France).

Ingredients: alcohol, sugar, water, vegetable substances (130 plants, bark, roots, spices, and flowers). Degrés d’alcool: 55% vol.

This is not beer. My dad always served liqueurs to company after dinner. Little cordial glasses are used, and liqueurs are meant to be sipped. Under his supervision, I tried them all.