Heart of a Hunter

A little History and Drinkage for the Jagermeister Faithful

by Kyle Branche, professional and private bartenderThe legend goes way back to the 7

century with the story of Saint Hubertus, the eldest sonof Duke Bertrand du Toulouse, who becomes a Count Palatinate under Theoderich of Burgundyat the age of twenty. Through battles and a marriage to the prince’s daughter who dies in givingbirth to their first child, his happiness is cut short as he seeks comfort and distraction in lonelyhunting forays. One Christmas Eve he encounters on one of his hunts the wonderous image of a splendid stag carrying a shining cross between its antlers.Through this vision, Hubert is moved to transform his life. He gives up his high rank of officeand distributes his wealth among the poor and the church. Down the road he becomes ordainedas a priest and eventually takes over as Bishop for Lambert of Maastricht. Hubert foundedseveral monasteries during self-sacrificial missionary work in the Ardennes, his earlier huntinggrounds, until his death on May 30, 727 in Tervueren. His earlier passion for hunting and thecentral incident in his life – the encounter with the stag – have made Hubert the Patron Saint of all hunters.Mr. Curt Mast, who created the recipe for Jagermeister in 1935, was a passionette hunter. Hispassion for both hunting and nature, as well as the composition of the natural ingredients in therecipe, were the reason for naming the herbal liqueur Jagermeister, which translates literally into“hunting master”, a title that still exists today. Jager is made from a mixture of 56 roots, barks,blossoms and herbs; cinnamon from Sri Lanka, bitter oranges from Australia, ginger roots fromSouth Asia, saffron from Spain, red sandalwood from East India, and blueberries from Europe.That’s all I can find out, for everything else is top secret. The herbs have to be weighed, thenground and blended, and eventually macerated in special tanks in order to produce the preciseJager extract. A total of 400 huge oak barrels with an overall capacity of 3.5 million litres areavailable for the extract mixture, where it is stored for a minimum of one year, as the porouswood adds to its distinctive aroma. Up to 370,000 bottles can be produced per day at threelocations in Germany, with its original/main production facility located in Wolfenbuttel.Bartenders and customers alike are well aware to keep Jager in the cooler and serve chilled, butthose bars, restaurants, and pubs who are lucky enough to have Jagermeister on tap by purcha-sing a Jagermeister “Colder Than Ice” Tap Machine will find that it becomes quite a draw forclientel with its impressive look and the sleek colors of orange and black hangin’out on the back bar, not to mention providing the coldest Jager you can get, all the way down to a heart-warming0 deg. F. How’s that for cruising temperature ? That’ll make the beer chaser taste warm incomparison. Or drop the shot in the beer and have a freezer bomb, aka Jagerbomb.To check the Jagerator out and purchase on-line, go to:www.tapmachineinc.com. Price - $299To check out the Jagermeister store for accessories and apparel, go to:www.jagershop.com