Why It's Time to Drink More Jägermeister

The pleasure we take in the food we eat (and the drinks we drink) is often tied up with memory. This soup reminds me of my mother’s soup; this wine reminds me of the wine we drank that time in Italy. We enjoy what we enjoy in part because it taps into those feelings.

But when it comes to Jägermeister, please: just forget what you remember. There might have been an ice luge involved. Or a not-so-hidden water bottle. You might have stood on a table, blubbering, “I LOVE YOU GUYS” until a friend ushered you home before your prom night curfew. But Jägermeister doesn’t deserve all that baggage. It’s time to start over, okay?

How about this: Jäger is an amaro made in Germany, flavored with cinnamon, licorice, star anise, cardamom, ginger, and mace, plus bitter orange and galangal, too, along with dozens of other roots, barks, and seeds that are known to only a handful of the people who make it. It’s a bitter liqueur like all those other cool bitter liqueurs you’ve been drinking.

In my 2019 book Batch Cocktails, I wrote about how surprisingly awesome an equal-parts mix of Jäger and mezcal or Jäger and rye is, and also about how to add a little Guinness and a little Jäger to make an extra-savory Bloody Mary. But I’m far from the first booze writer to sing the amaro’s praises. BA drinks editor Alex Delaney is fully on board with Jägermeister drinks. Bartender Jeffrey Morgenthaler, author of The Bar Book, advocated using Jäger instead of tequila in margaritas way back in 2008. And now I’m confident that you’re ready, too. You’ve probably had a shot of fernet or two—and maybe you even liked it. At minimum, you understand how many cocktails benefit from a bittersweet punch, whether they’re tropical, fragrant, fruity drinks or sultry stirred ones.

So find the bottle wherever you stashed it, and start with this Black Apple Old Fashioned. It was created by my friend Sother Teague, who you’ll often see behind the bar at New York’s Amor y Amargo, which is one of the best places to drink bitter drinks in the country. As the cocktail’s name suggests, this is an Old Fashioned variation, but Sother says the “Jäger plays the role of both sweetener and bitter” in the drink. (He goes further, only somewhat joking: It could be “argued that Jäger IS an Old Fashioned” on its own, since "it meets all the criteria of the cocktail, having spirit, sugar, water, and bitters…” But we’ll leave that discussion for another night.)

The spiced liqueur finds its match (and the cocktail its backbone) in Laird’s high-proof apple brandy; Jäger’s ginger and anise complement the appley core of the drink, and the apple brings out the amaro’s floral saffron accent. (Don’t use lighter applejack here; you’re looking for the 100-proof stuff.) The drink is packed with bitterness; it’s bold in a way that makes whiskey-water-sugar-bitters feel downright shy.

While Sother adds apple bitters to round out and brighten the drink (he likes the ones from Greenbar Distilery; I also like Workhorse Rye’s version), it also works deliciously with orange bitters—or no bitters at all. There’s plenty of flavor here either way. “The first sip should be bracing,” Sother tells me; it’s “sort of a reminder/warning that you’re now engaged in an activity that demands respect and attention from you.” It softens just a little as you make your way through.

Like most Old Fashioneds, you’ll build this cocktail right in your rocks glass, dispensing with the fuss of straining from a separate mixing glass. All the better to start your new life with Jäger that much sooner.

Black Apple Old-Fashioned

Originally Appeared on Epicurious