Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-10-22
CHARTREUSE AND ITS MAKERS.
Carthusian Monastery Has Oldest
Distillery in the World.

From Harper's Weekly.
The oldest distillery in the world was
located first in the great Carthusian mon
astery Of France, where the cordial
known as chartreuse was made by 81.
Bruno in the year 1854. Ever since that
date the monks have been employed In
the manufacture of this popular bev-
erage. st. Bruno preserved the recipe
a secret and mixed the aromatic herbs
In the proper proportions in a room
which not even the other monks were
permitted to enter He alone, IL Is es-
tablished. knew the exact temperature
at which the watts should be kept. and the
time necessary in order to extract the
essences Of the various herbs. When
his infirmities prevented his continuing
the work. he confided his secret TO an
other who was sworn never to divulge it
until he, in turn, should be compelled to
do SO for the preservation OF the formula
to the industry Strange as ii may
seem, the secret was in this manner pre-
served for centuries. For hundreds of
years the manu- acture went on in priIn-
tive mountain monastery. until the vast
profits which the wine brought We're
much more than sufficient to build a
million dollar monastery and distilery at
Fourvo.rie in 1856. The new buildings
We're constructed in purely ecc es.dSti.a al
style, ard until within the last fifty years
were supported solely by the sale OF
flavor, soon acquired immense popularity,
and was exported to ali parts OF Europe.
When the factory at Fouryoirie was run
ming at its fullest capacity, there was an
annual sale of seventy or eighty mil
lions of liters of chartreuse.
In order to make the cordial. the monks
were sent out to gather twelve different
species of herbs. and these were put TO
dry in a warehouse extending under one
half of the entire floor Of the monastery.
and QynOSad currents OF air. The
herbs We're afterward placed in running
water. each kind in separate jars. and
subjected to heat of a certain varying
Temperature in order to extract the juice.
and at the end Of twenty-four hours OF
sleeping the juice was liberated through
water pipes of small diameter, and kept
subsequently in refrigeration. Then fol-
lowed the process of distilling. The most
delicate part of the whole work then was
mixing the different extracts in the right
proportions: and this operation was al
ways Witnessed by the abbot. and Was
never brought to conclusion without the
celebration of a mass to sanctify the
product.
Not every one knows that the Carthu-
SLAMS manufacture three different kinds
Of chartreuse; besides the green and yell
low, there was a white chartreuse which
was much thinner. and which the monks
drank diluted with water, and offered, as
a usual thing. to their guests.
The Carthusians continued to monopo-
lie this industry until about eight years
ago. In all these centuries they had de-
voted themselves to agriculture con-
school buildings. and made some
of the best roads in ali Europe much of
the work being made possible because OF
the profits of chartreuse But i'm 1904 the
French government confiscated the prop
erty, expelled the monks and took charge
of the manufacture of this liquor. But
this laical chartreuse is but a sad imta-
ton of the magnificent beverage prepared
for long ages by the monks. and now
by them in their new home
In Spain.