The Jagermeister is sometimes drunk in test tubes. | Image from: Jagermeister.
Knowing that alcohol appears in a wide spectrum of drinks consumed around the world, the variety and possible combinations that we can find are almost endless. By mixing alcoholic beverages with juices and other liquids, concoctions worthy of tasting and sharing can be obtained .
One of the world’s most famous and best-selling brands of spirits is the Jagermeister. Its enigmatic recipe, its unmistakable taste and smell, as well as its relatively high alcohol content, but without being too strong on the palate, have made it an essential drink that appears in any self-respecting venue and nightclub .
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What is the Jagermeister
The Jagermeister or also known in its abbreviated form as “Jager” is a dark brown alcoholic drink of 35 degrees that is characterized by its flavor of different natural herbs.
His name comes from the German, and means “master hunter” . This name appeared in the year 1934 to refer to the rangers and other workers who were dedicated to public administration related to forestry work.
Its importance in the market is capital, since, to give an example, only in 2015, 89,000,000 bottles were sold and it is currently estimated that more than 90 shots are consumed per second. As if that were not enough, the Jagermeister is among the 20 best premium brands of spirits; specifically, in position 8. The price of the Jager usually ranges between 12 and 13 euros.
How was the Jagermeister born?
It was its creator, Curt Mast, who decided to use this word for his new and revolutionary drink. The reason: he initially wanted to sell it to the men who worked at that time in these tasks to make the long nights of cold and loneliness more bearable.
Only a year later, in 1935, this drink, due to its composition rich in different native herbs, began to be marketed as a natural remedy for coughs and various digestive problems .
The Second World War allowed this drink to gain many followersand great fame, because it was the German army that began to consume this drink as an anesthetic and disinfectant thanks to the alcohol content. As if it weren’t enough, the high officials of the Third Reich, including Hermann Goring (Hitler’s successor), used it and therefore spread the consumption of the Jagermeister.
What is its composition?
The Jager has something in common with Coca-Cola: the security with which they guard the secret formula. In fact, of the 56 ingredients they contain, only a few are known for sure . Others are completely unknown or are simple speculation.
Among some of the known compounds of Jagermeister are common oriental fruits, spices and roots, anise, juniper berries, ginger and licorice. Along with the rest of the ingredients, they are ground and macerated with water and alcohol for about 2 or 3 days.
At the end, the mixture is filtered to remove the remains of the ingredients and is stored in barrels for a year . After this time, it is filtered again and caramel, sugar and more water are added. Finally, it is filtered for the third time, bottled and distributed.
The result is a drink with rich nuances, with aromas of star anise, citrus and cloves. Experts manage to distinguish up to five notes: sweet, bitter, fruity or citrus, spicy and aromatic, thanks mainly to its long aging in German oak.
From the Jagermeister to the Jagerbomb
Even though the Jagermeister is a drink initially intended to be consumed “dry”, in a shot at -18º with a significant alcohol content, but a flavor that makes it quite bearable, many times when this liquor is consumed it is He does this by mixing it with others that lower its alcohol content.
This has caused the drink to be consumed in any context where alcohol has its place, mixing it with Coca-Cola, soda, Fanta, etc. But there is a combination that has long held the number one position in combinations in many countries, and the result of that mixture has a specific name: Jagerbomb.
The Jagerbomb is obtained by mixing the main drink of this article with an energy drink, usually RedBull. A night of drinks consuming this combination can result in a perfect mix between the spark that the alcohol gives and the energy that the Red Bull gives; but it can have very undesirable effects.
The dangers of mixing Jager with caffeine
The consumption of alcohol with drinks that activate the nervous system (Monster, Redbull, Burn…) is contraindicated because it can be harmful to health . However, its consumption has spread considerably.
Mixing alcohol and energy drinks leads to cardiovascular health problems. This is because these drinks not only contain caffeine, but also a significant dose of sugar and other stimulants.. In a way, energy drinks make the body not emit that warning signal when one has gone too far with the shots. This can lead to alcohol poisoning, tachycardia and arrhythmias.
In short, we can drink Jagermeister with some moderation and we will even notice the benefits of its known compounds, but irresponsible consumption can lead to serious problems.
What does the deer of the brand mean?
The unmistakable logo of the Jager brand is the head of a deer with a christian cross in the middle. Its origin comes from the “Legend of San Huberto” , which tells the following story:
A young man, driven by greed, goes hunting day after day to kill all the animals he finds. But one day, he crosses paths with a white deer, an extremely rare specimen, which further increases his desire to hunt it down and obtain it as loot. At the precise moment he was about to shoot, a cross appeared in front of the animal, leaving it paralyzed. Since then, he abandoned indiscriminate hunting.
The deer appears in the Jagermeister logo guarding the oak and pine barrel. Interestingly, these references to the “hunter” are also reflected in Oskar von Riesenthal’s poem, on the white label , which reads as follows: “It is the hunter’s honor to protect and care for his prey, to hunt chivalrously and to honor the Creator in his hunt”.
The presentation: The tap machine and more
The Jagermeister brand has also taken great care in the presentation of its star product. For them, it is not enough to have the bottles on the shelf behind the bar. This means that the Jager is at the same level as the rest of the drinks and is lost among the great repertoire of brands and types of spirits that exist.
The classic Jagermeister tap machine. | Image from: Pinterest.
To fix this, they designed the Tap Machine. It consists of a container with rectangular sides, well decorated, with a very characteristic red light. In this space, Jagermeister bottles are placed face down on top. The main function of the container is to keep the drink cold, around -20 ºC, at the same time that it has the function of dispenser. To date, more than 130,000 of these mini-fridges have been sold.
In addition, the same brand also has a shot glass freezer (freezer of shot glasses, in Spanish) and a dispenser of frozen shots , similar in operation to the Tap Machine, but intended above all for domestic use.
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