Production then remains limited, with only a small still being reinstalled. The monks are also developing treatments such as toothpaste - and the "Specific" against toothache -, the steel ball or syrups.
Eight years of work lead to the "good practical recipe" written down by Dom Messy. From , writings testify to the development of a new " Elixir of table or of health ".
In addition to this medicinal aspect, the monks understood that this new elixir, whose production is three hundred liters per year, can now become a real liqueur with a unique taste. In , the monks finally recovered their manuscript against 3, francs from the widow of Pierre Liotard, allowing the final adjustments for their liqueurs. In , a lemon balm liqueur characterized by a white color was developed by Brother Bruno Jacquet.
That same year, Brother Colomban Mure-Ravaux produced just before his death a completely different blend, softer with a pale yellow color. It was in this spirit of will that Father Garnier, attorney and responsible for Liqueurs, decided, still in , to call another health liqueur developed with patience by the monks: the " Green Chartreuse ". In , the revenue for the first month was equal to that of the sales of the previous year: success was rapid.
Thanks to the income generated by the sale of liquors and the now famous elixir, the monastery was able to devote itself to more charity in the years that followed. The presence of soldiers in the massif in , will make the reputation of the Chartreuse: they taste it and talk about it in all the barracks!
From , sales became the main income of the monastery and increased tenfold the following year. Her fame is such that she is referred to as the "Queen of Liquors". The liqueurs and the Elixir are now exported to Lyon or Bordeaux, but also to Vienna, Gap, Geneva, Marseille, Nancy, Nevers and even to Paris and Italy, although the brand has still not been officially registered. After discovering the " Yellow Charterhouse " during a visit to the monastery, they advertise it. The success is such that counterfeits and lawsuits pile up.
To put an end to copies, the Chartreux Fathers made special bottles and affixed labels and stamps " Liqueur made at the Grande Chartreuse " accompanied by the signature of Dom Louis Garnier. On November 20, , the latter deposited the mark for the first time for the Carthusians. In , the increase in the production and trade of liqueurs - but also the desire to limit transport and avoid the risk of fires in the monastery - forced the distillery to be transferred from the monastery to Fourvoirie in the town.
At the same time, a warehouse and shipping location is set up in Voiron. Development work on the two sites began in at the initiative of Reverend Father Dom Jean-Baptiste.
In the monastery is kept the deposit of aromatic plants. At the end of the s, counterfeiting did not stop and about fifteen trials took place until Dom Louis Garnier then registered the trademark in Despite this protection, the Practical Guide for the Distillator observed that the Chartreuse was , " Of all liquors, the one that has given rise to the greatest number of counterfeits ". The Vatican is satisfied with the activity of the monks, because each year, since , it has made it possible to meet the needs of the French Seminary in Rome but also to come to the aid of the local populations, as was the case during the terrible fire which ravaged Saint-Laurent-du-Pont in , or even with the construction of a hospital in in the same town.
The beginning of the twentieth century is marked by a powerful anticlericalism which believes that the liberation of minds requires the erasure of religions. The Carthusians will soon be expelled. On April 13, , a commissioner warned them that they had to leave the monastery and, a fortnight later, soldiers came to expel them, under the protests of the Dauphinoise crowd.
They then organized the withdrawal of the distillery in Tarragona, Spain, into a former spinning and weaving factory that the Order had acquired twenty years earlier. It will take years for the monks to be able to right this injustice. In Spain, the production of liquor began in and trials were increasing everywhere.
Little by little, the religious manage to recover the rights to their brand abroad. From , sales will be increasing, after the Supreme Court of the United States banned the liquor of " the Cusenier Company " on American soil.
In , the Chartreux Fathers set up their new distillery in Marseille. But everything has to be restarted at Fourvoirie. After four years of impressive work, production resumes.
In , a new tragedy struck the Chartreuse: a landslide swept away the installations of Fourvoirie. Faced with fate, everyone mobilized and production resumed a few months later in Voiron. In Spain, civil war struck the liquor in turn, and the Tarragona distillery was bombed in The times were difficult, many tragedies struck the Charterhouse, a glimmer of hope was born with the return of the monks to the monastery in June thanks to a decree by Georges Mandel.
It was not until the Liberation in that normalcy and a form of appeasement were restored. The Carthusians then decided to change the image of the liquor and the year would assert itself as one of renewal. An exceptional place! Living in solitude and silence, the Carthusians cannot open their monastery to visitors. Access around the monastery is authorized and a nice walk allows you to get a very nice view of the monastery. Note: be sure to respect the zone of silence. Green Chartreuse is very good on its own as a digestif, as a cocktail Chartreusito, Green Chaud, Chartreuse Soleil … , or to enhance a dish, chocolate, cheese ….
Where to taste it? The first incarnation of Chartreuse as we know it was made in after one of the fathers was successfully able to decode the manuscript. Arrests were made and copies of the recipe were smuggled, sold, and ultimately returned to the brotherhood.
The company was bought out by locals around Grenoble who returned the rights to the order, allowing them to make Chartreuse as they had done for centuries. The secret of the recipe is known to no more than two monks at a given time. The focus of the order is on contemplation and the Carthusians follow rules which focus on silence.
All we know is the approximate number of plants that go into this botanical beverage. As to the other ingredients, well, they remain as enigmatic as the Sphinx.
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