"It's a sunny day in May at the foot of the French Prealps, and the bar-brasserie Le Schuss in the town of Voiron is throwing-there's no other word for it-a rager. On the outdoor terrace, a DJ stands with his turntable on a raised platform, rallying a horde of teenagers in green and yellow bandanas, pumping their fists to pop hits from the 2000s and '10s."
"This is, to my great surprise, part of Les Fêtes de la Chartreuse, an annual festival in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France that, indeed, fetes Chartreuse. It's a triple celebration: of the green liqueur distilled from about 130 botanicals by Carthusian monks according to a centuries-old secret recipe; the verdant mountain range after which the drink, the monks, and their monastery are named; and the area's natural bounty at the height of spring."
"Chartreuse comes in two "flavors": green and yellow. I prefer the former-herbaceous, piquant, and almost overwhelming. Drinking it straight feels like a meadow grabbing you by the throat and saying, "Do you like that?" (My answer is yes.) That sharpness tempers whatever drink it's in, as in the sweet-and-sour Last Word, an IBA cocktail made with gin, lime juice, Maraschino liqueur, and green Chartreuse."
Les Fêtes de la Chartreuse is an annual spring festival in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region celebrating Chartreuse liqueur, the surrounding mountains, and local bounty. Carthusian monks distill green and yellow Chartreuse from roughly 130 botanicals using a centuries-old secret recipe originating in 1605. Green Chartreuse is herbaceous, piquant, and intense, while yellow Chartreuse is milder and lower in alcohol. The liqueur features in classic cocktails like the Last Word and influences local identity, tourism, and culinary practices around Voiron and neighboring communes, drawing lively crowds and communal rituals each year.
Read at Conde Nast Traveler
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