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The monks who produce in France the famous chartreuse, a liqueur invented four centuries ago, are overwhelmed by orders from the trendiest cocktail bars in the United States.
It is a liqueur whose reputation has crossed the Atlantic, to the United States. In cocktails, as a digestif or simply on their own, Americans love chartreuse and want more. The Charterhouse, made by monks since 1605, has been popularized in American cinema and literature. The United States today absorbs half of foreign sales. An ever-increasing enthusiasm, as noted by a wine merchant based in Washington. “We have chartreuse green and chartreuse yellow at the moment. There is a huge demand, it has become very fashionable”confirms Ambert Thompson.
A growing demand, but the monks have decided to set limits. 6,000 km from the United States, they are 30 to live secluded in the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse. It is impossible to meet them. The manufacture of liquor is their main resource. The Carthusians and the lay people who work with them have decided not to produce more despite the success, and to impose bottle quotas on their customers. They want to stop the race for growth, to preserve their monastic life. Another reason: respect for the environment, not compatible according to the monks, with unbridled growth. There are 130 plants in the composition of the liquor, the recipe of which only the monks know.
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