Green Chartreuse
Green Chartreuse is a herbal liqueur from the French Alps, made from 130 plants at 55% ABV on its maker’s product page, which credits its colour to those plants. Chartreuse’s own history says it is made close to the Grande Chartreuse monastery, where the only two people who know the formula live. It is strong enough to lead any drink it is in, as it does in the Last Word, the Bijou and the Chartreuse Swizzle.
Quick Facts
Store upright in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight. Reseal tightly after use to preserve volatile aromatics.
None of the 14 listed allergens. Recipes change: check the bottle.
About Green Chartreuse
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Explosive herbal aroma with notes of spice, pine, pepper, and alpine botanicals. Powerful, warming, and long-lasting with significant intensity.
Made for an order of monks, to a recipe two people know
The Carthusians trace Chartreuse to a manuscript given to them in 1605, listing plants for an elixir. The method was written down in 1764, and the green liqueur was created in 1840. Chartreuse says it is made from 130 plants, the one detail of the recipe made public, and that two people know the rest.
The colour is the plants, not a dye. At 55% ABV it is stronger than most of the spirits it is mixed with.
The shortage is a choice by the order
Drinks International reports a letter of January 2023 in which the monks said they had decided in 2021 not to increase production, to protect their monastic life and devote their time to solitude and prayer; US sales had doubled from 2020 to 2023, according to Chartreuse Diffusion. The result is a bottle that appears and goes; when you find one, it is worth knowing which drinks need it and which can do without.
It leads every drink it is in
Measure for measure it outweighs everything around it. Our six recipes use it from 15ml to a full base. Yellow Chartreuse, 43% on its maker’s page and characterised by its sweetness, makes a different drink in each of them.
Green Chartreuse in our recipes
Chartreuse Swizzle
- Measure
- 45ml
- What it does
- The base, lengthened with pineapple, lime and falernum
Last Word
- Measure
- 22.5ml
- What it does
- One of four equal parts, and the loudest
Nuclear Daiquiri
- Measure
- 20ml
- What it does
- Half the base, with overproof rum
Bijou
- Measure
- 20ml
- What it does
- A quarter of a stirred drink with gin and sweet vermouth
Tipperary
- Measure
- 15ml
- What it does
- Seasons Irish whiskey and sweet vermouth
Champs-Élysées
- Measure
- 15ml
- What it does
- Seasons a cognac sour
| Drink | Measure | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Chartreuse Swizzle | 45ml | The base, lengthened with pineapple, lime and falernum |
| Last Word | 22.5ml | One of four equal parts, and the loudest |
| Nuclear Daiquiri | 20ml | Half the base, with overproof rum |
| Bijou | 20ml | A quarter of a stirred drink with gin and sweet vermouth |
| Tipperary | 15ml | Seasons Irish whiskey and sweet vermouth |
| Champs-Élysées | 15ml | Seasons a cognac sour |
The Last Word is the clearest test: gin, Chartreuse, maraschino and lime in four parts of 22.5ml, shaken hard and double strained. The Chartreuse Swizzle goes further and makes it the base. In the Tipperary and the Champs-Élysées, 15ml is enough to set the tone.
Using Green Chartreuse
Usage
Between 15ml and 45ml in our recipes: 15ml in the Champs-Élysées and the Tipperary, 20ml in the Bijou and the Nuclear Daiquiri, 22.5ml in the Last Word, and a full 45ml in the Chartreuse Swizzle, where it is the base. Even at 15ml it is the loudest thing in the glass.
Pro Tip
Pour the Last Word at four even measures of 22.5ml and do not round any of them up. The drink depends on the four staying level, and an extra splash of Chartreuse is the easiest way to lose it.
Top Tips
- Count its strength. At 55% it is stronger than most base spirits: 22.5ml carries the alcohol of about 30ml of gin.
- Yellow at the same measure is no swap: it is sweeter and gentler, and blunts the drink.
- Store it away from sunlight. The green comes from plants rather than a dye, and light can dull it.
- A rinse of the glass or a few drops on top of a sour gives its smell at a fraction of a full measure.
Possible Substitutions
- Herbal liqueur blends (approximation only)
Production Method
By its maker’s product page, made from 130 plants by the Chartreux Fathers at their Aiguenoire distillery in Entre-Deux-Guiers, with its colour from the plants. Chartreuse says two people know the formula.
History & Context
Chartreuse’s own history dates the recipe to a manuscript handed to the Carthusians of Paris in 1605 by François-Annibal d’Estrées, and records the method written down as the “Composition of the Elixir of Chartreuse” in 1764. Its product page dates green Chartreuse to 1840, as the Liqueur de Santé later named Chartreuse Verte, and says it is made today at the Aiguenoire distillery in Entre-Deux-Guiers.
More to explore
Common Questions
What is green Chartreuse?
Why is Chartreuse so hard to find?
What is the difference between green and yellow Chartreuse?
How strong is green Chartreuse?
What can I use instead of green Chartreuse?
Is Chartreuse still made by monks?
Does Chartreuse go off once opened?
Sources.
Checked between 16 October and 19 October 2026.
- Chartreuse Diffusion, “Green Chartreuse” (producer’s product page (55% vol.; 130 plants; Aiguenoire distillery; created in 1840)).
- Chartreuse Diffusion, “Yellow Chartreuse” (producer’s product page (43% vol.; alcohol, sugar, water, 130 plants)).
- Chartreuse Diffusion, “History of Chartreuse” (producer’s history (1605 manuscript; 1764; the two people who know the formula)).
- Drinks International (Oli Dodd), “Chartreuse devotees find alternatives” (trade press: the January 2023 letter (decision of 2021 not to increase production); US sales doubled from 2020 to 2023).
Made with Green Chartreuse
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Updated 19 October 2026